Enzo Maresca leads Chelsea to victory in Europa Conference League debut

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca expressed his optimism about his team's potential, following their first victory under his leadership. The 2-0 win over Servette in the Europa Conference League play-off first leg on Aug 22 marked a positive start for Maresca's tenure, but he believes there is still room for improvement and more success to come from his side.

The Blues struggled to break down their Swiss opponents in the first half at Stamford Bridge, before Christopher Nkunku put them in front with a 50th-minute penalty, just his fourth goal for the club.

Marc Guiu somehow missed an open goal a few minutes later, but Noni Madueke moved Chelsea closer to a group-stage place ahead of next week’s second leg by firing home from Enzo Fernandez’s pass.

Tiemoko Ouattara almost pulled one back for Servette late on when his deflected strike hit the crossbar.

Ultimately, it was a welcome win for Chelsea after suffering a 2-0 loss in Maresca’s debut game against Manchester City in the English Premier League last weekend.

“We are learning how to manage the game,” said the Italian, whose team are making their return to European competition after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season under Mauricio Pochettino.

“The last 10 minutes we played a little bit with fire (referring to Servette hitting the crossbar). I was a bit worried. We could have managed the game in a different way. But I expected it because we are in a moment of learning things.

“In some moments the intention to keep the ball is the correct one, especially when you are 2-0 up... We didn’t concede, and from there we can learn. All of them need more time to know better the system. Tonight was also not easy in terms of physical condition for some of them.

“It was important to win the game with nine changes. There were many good things.”

However, there was a scare for Chelsea, as key player Cole Palmer went down the dug-out holding the back of his leg at full time after coming on as a second-half substitute.

“Cole felt something but he looks fine. Hopefully it is no problem and he can be available for Sunday’s game (against Wolverhampton Wanderers),” Maresca added.

Elsewhere, Greek club Panathinaikos suffered a 2-1 defeat at 10-man Lens in their first leg, with Wesley Said scoring what proved to be the winner for the French Ligue 1 side.

Former Spain and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea endured a difficult debut as Italy’s Fiorentina were held to a 3-3 home draw by Hungarians Puskas Akademia.

Irish club St Patrick’s kept their hopes of qualifying for the group stage of a European tournament for the first time alive, drawing 0-0 with Istanbul Basaksehir of Turkey.

In the Europa League play-offs, Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam thrashed Jagiellonia 4-1 in Poland, with English forward Chuba Akpom scoring a hat-trick.

Turkish side Besiktas blew a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 with Lugano in Switzerland, while Scottish outfit Hearts lost 1-0 at Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic. AFP