Enzo Maresca hailed the impact of Chelsea attacker Jadon Sancho after he marked his debut with an assist for Christopher Nkunku’s winner at Bournemouth.
Sancho was introduced at half-time for his first Premier League appearance in 12 months after a spat with Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag last season.
While Sancho settled the rift with Ten Hag this summer, he joined the Blues on loan on transfer deadline day and set up the winner with a wonderful threaded pass into Nkunku, who turned inside the area and found the bottom corner in the 86th minute for the only goal on the south coast.
Instant impact. 🪄#CFC | #BOUCHE pic.twitter.com/RSFcYJdqAp
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 14, 2024
“Very happy, very happy for him. He was very good,” Maresca said of Sancho.
“I have a feeling that Jadon is a guy that needs love. This is what I thought when I spoke with him before he joined us.
“Also I know he has the desire to show the player he is, but for me, it is just to enjoy football. This is the reason why they play.
“Jadon helped us a lot but what he did tonight is exactly what we expected from him. As I said, I know Jadon very good because I watched him many, many times in the past and I know what he can give us.
“Then also Christopher was very good and not just because he scored but because he fought without the ball and Jadon was exactly the same.
“The performance second half changed completely but we need to learn these kind of things if we want to build something important and we want to win games, first of all we need the desire to win games, win duels and to fight together.”
Thanks for your support, the atmosphere before outside and during the game was felt 👏 pic.twitter.com/kBnsjx2mtv
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) September 14, 2024
Bournemouth enjoyed the better of the chances in the first half, with Marcus Tavernier firing an effort against the crossbar from 25 yards in the fourth minute before Evanilson set up Justin Kluivert, but Robert Sanchez produced a smart save.
Not long after Nicolas Jackson had been denied by Mark Travers, Bournemouth won a penalty when Evanilson raced on to Wesley Fofana’s poor back pass and was brought down by Sanchez.
However, the blushes of Fofana were spared when Evanilson saw his low shot pushed wide by Sanchez to continue his goal drought since a £40million move from Porto.
Maresca had seen enough and at half-time sent on Sancho, who immediately helped Marc Cucurella go close to teeing up Noni Madueke.
Sancho was in the thick of the action, setting up Jackson for another chance which the forward curled wide before he was booked for dissent, but his key moment arrived with four minutes left.
The Manchester United exile worked a yard of space on the left and passed into Nkunku, who got in between Marcos Senesi and Illia Zabarnyi too easily and slotted into the bottom corner to earn Maresca a narrow second Premier League win.
The reason behind Christopher Nkunku''s eye-catching celebration 🎈 pic.twitter.com/BTBbXUW0UW
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 14, 2024
Andoni Iraola refused to criticise Evanilson for his penalty miss and was eager not to speak about referee Anthony Taylor after he handed out 14 yellow cards, which is a new Premier League record.
“Within 14, first yellows? Quite easy first yellows and then second yellows? Not easy but I will not focus on the referee. It hasn’t worked before so I will try not to focus on that,” Iraola insisted.
“I think we were the better team and deserve probably to win, but when you are against this kind of opposition and miss a penalty, hit the crossbar, hit the post, miss more chances, their keeper is good, you can think that at one moment in the game they will hurt us and it happened at the end.”
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
