Enzo Maresca fumes over ‘embarrassing’ Liam Delap red card in Chelsea win over Wolves

The striker’s return from injury was spoiled after his dismissal at Molineux

Liam Delap's return from injury was marred by his late dismissal (Jacob King/PA Wire)

Enzo Maresca admitted that Liam Delap deserved to be sent off for Chelsea against Wolve as the manager lamented a “stupid foul”.

The visitors survived a seven-goal thriller at Molineux despite threatening to squander a three-goal lead late on before Jamie Gittens popped up with what proved a crucial goal in a 4-3 win.

Maresca had been boosted by the availability of striker Delap after an injury lay-off and introduced the forward in the second half, with the 22-year-old back amongst things after 10 weeks out.

The young forward soon found himself in trouble with the referee, though, first being cautioned for pushing Yerson Mosquera to the ground before fouling Emmanuel Agbadou and being shown a second yellow.

An impending one-match suspension will force Delap to miss Saturday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham, and continues a theme of ill-discipline this season for Chelsea.

Robert Sanchez was sent off against Manchester United, Trevoh Chalobah against Brighton, Joao Pedro against Benfica and Malo Gusto against Nottingham Forest - while Maresca also served a touchline ban for his celebrations of a winning goal against Liverpool.

And while believing there was mitigation for some of his side’s misdeeds, Maresca branded Delap’s two yellows as “embarrassing”.

Liam Delap was shown red late on for a second bookable offence (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

“Absolutely, yes,” Maresca said when asked if Delap deserved his dismissal. “[It is a] stupid foul, we can avoid that.

“I completely understand when there are red cards like Brighton or Man United that is difficult, but red card against Nottingham Forest and red card today, both we can avoid that. And we have to avoid that.

“It's embarrassing when it's a red card like today, because it's two yellow cards in seven minutes. I think we can avoid that.

“After the yellow card, I told him four or five times to keep calm. But Liam is a player that when he's inside the pitch probably he'll be playing the game for himself and he struggles to realise and to listen around him.”

Liam Delap’s return to action for Chelsea was short-lived (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Chelsea have been drawn an away tie against League One Cardiff in the quarter-finals.