Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has explained why Noni Madueke was 'not happy' after the winger stormed down the tunnel during their 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
The 22-year-old was substituted after 68 minutes when the Blues were trailing to Gabriel Martinelli's goal, with Maresca choosing to bring on Mykhaylo Mudryk in his place.
Instead of joining his benched team-mates behind the dugout, Madueke showed his fury by walking straight down the tunnel - and it is understood he was not injured.
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After the game, Maresca was quizzed on the incident and the 44-year-old admitted Madueke was far from happy with the decision to replace him.
"The problem is that when you change a player, they're never happy. We changed him," Maresca said in his post-match press conference.
"It's not only about Noni, it's about all the players. In that moment, we thought in a different way that Pedro [Neto] with [Jurrien] Timber would be more aggressive."
The Italian's tactical switch paid off instantly as he moved Neto from the left side to the right, and the Portuguese winger fired a long-range effort into the bottom corner to rescue a point for the west London club.
Maresca praised the £54m signing after scoring his first Premier League goal for the club since his moves from Wolves and singled out Enzo Fernandez for making an impact from the bench as well.
"All of our players are ready when we decide to give them the opportunity," he told Sky Sports. "Enzo was ready to play from the start but we decided not to for a tactical reason but then he was excellent. Pedro has been excellent since he joined us.
"It is so, so strange for all the guys that are outside. We need balance. Sometimes Malo [Gusto] will play, sometimes Reece [James] will play, but the important thing is that when they play they perform well and this is the main thing."
The result means Chelsea have climbed into the top three of the Premier League for the first time since the 2021-22 season, although there is only a point separating the Blues in third and Tottenham in ninth place.
But Maresca is grateful to be in a favourable position in the Premier League table: "We are happy with where we are, especially because we've played in the way we want to play and that is the most important thing.
"We are not thinking about where we in May - it's pointless."
