Enzo Maresca admitted he "felt sorry for Ange [Postecoglou]", after his Chelsea side's 3-0 victory away at Nottingham Forest on Saturday led to the sacking of the Australian after just 39 games in charge at the City Ground. 

Goals from Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto, and Reece James sealed a valuable three points for the Blues, who climb to fourth in the Premier League. 

Chelsea have now won three consecutive away league games against the Tricky Trees for the very first time, with their current run of five games unbeaten at the City Ground (W4 D1) also being their longest ever.

The Blues are the first team to have two teenagers score in the Premier League this season (Estevao and Acheampong), while it is Chelsea's first time having two teenagers score in the same season since 1998-99 (Mikael Forssell and Celestine Babayaro).

Postecoglou was sacked by Forest just 18 minutes after the full-time whistle at the City Ground. He spent just 39 days in charge at the club, the shortest managerial reign of any permanent manager to leave a club during the season.

Maresca offered up his sympathies to the departing Forest boss when speaking to beIN: "I feel sorry for Ange. But this business is about winning games. For all of us, it's the same consequence if we don't win games."

Chelsea, who were without Maresca in the dugout after he received a touchline ban, had limited opportunities in the first half. Yet, the visitors came alive in the second, as James scored and assisted on his 200th appearance for the club. 

"The first half, we struggled. They were good; we made mistakes where we gave them a boost. In the second half, we were much better, controlled the game very well," Maresca said.

"We needed to make the changes in this moment, protect players – some of the changes were already planned."

Maresca's side are back in action on Wednesday when they host Ajax in the Champions League. 

"They are all happy. For the three points, we are six, seven of our main players out. It shows the compromise from all of them," the Italian added. 

"Today, we could have avoided it; it was 3-0. But the players want to fight. If someone doesn’t like that, it’s not a concern."