Enzo Maresca slammed Liam Delap after the Chelsea striker received a ‘stupid’ and ‘deserved’ red card in the Carabao Cup win over Wolves.
Delap was thrown on for the final half an hour at Molineux in replace of Estevao Willian, who scored Chelsea’s third to put the visitors 3-0 up at half-time.
Chelsea led inside five minutes through Andrey Santos and Stamford Bridge academy graduate Tyrique George made it two after just 15 minutes.
The last-16 tie looked dead and buried when Estevao continued his impressive form with Chelsea’s third but basement boys Wolves got two goals back in the second half.
Wolves also had a numerical advantage late on after £30m summer signing Delap was sent off for two yellow cards just 25 minutes after entering the fray.
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But Chelsea scored again through fellow summer recruit Jamie Gittens to ensure Wolves’ late third goal was merely a consolation.
Delap’s red card, which Maresca described as ‘stupid’, means he is suspended for Chelsea’s Premier League derby against Tottenham on Saturday.
Chelsea have had a disciplinary issue this season and while Maresca said he could ‘understand’ some of the previous red cards, he was deeply unhappy with Delap’s dismissal.
‘Today we had a very stupid red card that was completely unnecessary,’ a furious Maresca said. ‘A stupid foul. He deserved that.
‘I can understand the red cards against Brighton and United, but against Nottingham and today, we can avoid that.
‘It’s embarrassing when it’s a red card like today. Two yellow cards in seven minutes. We can avoid both. It’s not good.
‘After the yellow card, I told him four or five times to stay calm. When he is on the pitch, he sometimes plays the game for himself and struggles to see the others around him.’
Delap was playing his first game since suffering an injury setback at the end of August but his return to action did not go to plan.
Discussing Chelsea’s win more generally, Maresca added: ‘Very happy first-half, very unhappy second-half. This is my personal view.
‘We were very good first-half, playing nice football and creating chances. We didn’t concede nothing.
‘Second-half, we weren’t doing the right things. The three goals we concede, we can avoid all of them. For sure, today we had a very stupid red card that was completely unnecessary.’
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