Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri has revealed that he is gradually getting accustomed to boos and jeers from fans of his side. The Italian manager was subjected to criticisms throughout the duration of Sunday's Premier League clash with Cardiff City, an encounter the Blues fortuitously run away with a 2-1 victory.
Nevertheless, the outcome of the fixture barely reflected the performance of Chelsea as, once again, they failed to deliver the goods with their "Sarriball" type of football in the first half. The Blues were made to fight back from a goal down after Cardiff opened the scoring and were duly rewarded for their resilience in the second half with goals from Cesar Azpilicueta and Ruben Loftus Cheek.
Prior to finding the back of the net, a section of the traveling fans consistently expressed their grievances by booing Maurizio Sarri and also chanting with expletives as a response to the negative football on display. The crowd was further irritated when the ex-Napoli manager overlooked Callum Hudson-Odoi and, instead, introduced Olivier Giroud into the fray while Chelsea chased an equalizer.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Sarri admitted getting use to the fans' reactions and also accepted that his team was a shadow of itself in the first half.
"They were probably unhappy with the score and I can understand that.
"I am disappointed for my players, not for me. I can understand it well and unfortunately, I am getting used to this."
"We did not play very well in the first half. In the second half we played as we usually do.
"We conceded a stupid goal but today we reacted better. We were lucky for timing but in the end I think we deserved to win."
On Azpilicueta's controversial 'offside' goal, Sarri added:
"I have to see the situation, the action. I don't know. But maybe sometimes we can be lucky.
"Otherwise at the end of the first half in Everton there was unlucky moments."
