Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca wants Noni Madueke to stay at the club beyond the end of the transfer window after the winger came off the bench to score his team’s second goal and seal a 2-0 win over Servette in the first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off.
The 22-year-old cemented his place in the Italian’s plans with a clinical finish lashed in at the near post in the second half of what was at times an uncomfortable match against the Swiss side.
“I really like Noni,” said Maresca. “The only problem is that he has to understand that he has to be consistent during the week in training. He’s a good player and he’s doing well with us.”
Asked whether Madueke has a future at Chelsea, he said: “Yeah absolutely. But the reality is until the window closes, anything can happen. But for sure Noni is the kind of player that I like. We have so many games. If it’s to today it will be the next one, or the next one. Noni, I like him. He’s doing well since he started with us.
“The only thing he has to improve is consistency; every day, every day work hard. Then he will get minutes for sure.”
Chelsea laboured in the first period and were limited to a smattering of half chances.
Time to kick on now — Blues. 💪#CFC | #UECL pic.twitter.com/0okR3TjwjS
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 22, 2024
Striker Marc Guiu went round the goalkeeper in the second minute but failed to keep the ball in play, and there were tame efforts from Mykhailo Mudryk and Pedro Neto cutting in off the wings to see out the half.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall finally provided a moment of inspiration minutes after the break, sliding a pass through for Christopher Nkunku who took the ball away from goal before being fouled by goalkeeper Jeremy Frick.
From the resulting penalty, Nkunku clipped Chelsea in front. Guiu had the chance to roll into an empty net but fell flat on his back, before Enzo Fernandez played in Madueke to race away from his man and seal the win.
Maresca made nine changes to the team that lost to Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, with six summer signings making their full debuts.
There was also a first start of the season for Mudryk, who was ineffective on the left wing having endured a frustrating 18 months since joining from Shakhtar Donetsk for £89million.
“We’re going to try to help him to change,” said Maresca. “We’re going to bring him the ball in the last third, and when he’s there he has to take the right decisions.
“The mistakes he makes are not technical, they are about choices. It’s about decision making. Hopefully we can help him and we can improve that.”
Servette boss Thomas Haberli reflected on a match he felt his side had chances to take something from.
“The result is tough,” he said. “We had a lot of opportunities especially in the send half. But at this level, you make two easy mistakes. “Two-zero is quite a lot, but of course we are looking forward to the game in Geneva. You never know.”
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