Enzo Maresca says having both Jackson and Delap is ‘a nice feeling’ after Chelsea beat LAFC | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca praised the impacts of Nicolas Jackson and Liam Delap after both strikers picked up assists in Chelsea 2-0 win over LAFC.

The Blues kicked off their Club World Cup campaign in comfortable fashion against the MLS side, which featured former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud and ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Maresca’s side took the lead in the 34th minute after Jackson played through Pedro Neto, and after a neat bit of trickery the Portuguese winger smashed the ball into the bottom corner.

The west Londoners then had to wait until the 79th minute to get their second of the match to wrap up the victory, with second half debutant Delap crossing superbly for Enzo Fernandez to tap in from close range to give the Blues a winning start in Group D.

Maresca was delighted by the impact shown by both of his forwards, with Jackson and Delap set to fight it out for the starting role in the team.

“Both are very good No.9s and hopefully both can score goals and get assists like today,” Maresca said. “I prefer to have four or five players who score ten or twelve goals each rather one striker who scores 40 goals. Enzo scored again today too, which is good.

“Last year we tried to use different threats, different weapons; we also we had two or three months where we were without Nico and Marc.

“We tried to find different solutions but for sure, when you have two strikers like Nico and Liam, it’s a nice feeling as a head coach.

“You know you can choose one of them and it’s going to be a good choice.”

The Italian also commended his side’s professionalism, after another strong defensive display to shut out their north American opponents.

“We are professional and have to adapt to any situation or environment.

“What’s important is the behaviour of the players, the attitude, and once again today, they showed how professional they are and the desire they have, because it was important to win today and also not to concede a goal.

“We finished the Premier League season and Conference League very strong defensively, without conceding many goals. Today we continued that and we want to stay with this attitude.”