Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca delivers cutting response to Raheem Sterling question after Man City defeat

And City doubled their lead late on through Mateo Kovacic, who refused to celebrate after his curling effort sailed past Robert Sanchez at Stamford Bridge.

There were some encouraging signs for Maresca, despite his Chelsea side coming up short.

One player who wasn't involved was Sterling, with the winger left out of the squad.

His camp have released a statement saying they want 'clarity' on the forward's future.

Yet Maresca was in no mood to discuss Sterling, with the Italian saying it was merely a 'tactical decision' to leave the England international out.

"To be honest, I didn't see the statement. I have nothing to say. It was a tactical decision, no more than that," he said.

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"In the next day, we will clarify in case we need to.

"I have been clear, it's a tactical decision. I didn't see it."

Maresca also expressed a belief that Chelsea performed well, despite leaving the contest with no points to their name.

"I think we competed very well for much of the game," added the former Leicester boss.

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"We were similar if not better. The performance was there but we didn't take the chances.

"Probably the big difference was inside the box. I'm quite happy in terms of performance.

"For me, the important thing is to create chances. We didn't score but we created chances.

"The first goal for them was almost offside, we almost scored. These things change results but the performance was good overall. It was quite clear, you can see a team trying to keep the ball and dominate.

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"We were against the champions today. We will continue and win games. They are a master in this kind of moment.

"We had two or three chances. They are a master of keeping hold of the ball.

"The performance was there and that is the main thing. You can see how they manage the ball.

"In terms of chances, we had the same. Keeping the ball was more or less there.

"We don't like to lose. We just need to continue."

Chelsea are next in action against Servette in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday (8pm).