caughtoffside
·24 November 2024
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·24 November 2024
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca returned to Leicester City for the first time since leaving the club in the summer.
The Blues continued their brilliant start to the season with a 2-1 win away to Leicester, thanks to goals from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez.
The Argentinian midfielder was given the opportunity to start again after recently spending time on the bench.
He was influential for the Blues in a new role, playing a part in the first goal they scored and scoring the second one.
Leicester City scored a late consolation goal which means that Fernandez’s goal turned out to be the winner.
The under-fire midfielder needed a good performance and he gave exactly that for his team, keeping them in third position in the league.
Maresca has claimed that he has decided to change the role of Fernandez in the team with the Italian manager wanting to use the midfielder just like he used Wilfred Ndidi and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Leicester.
“Today, I thought, was the right game to use Enzo, even if he was back [late] from international duty. I think he did very well,” Maresca said after the match, as reported by TNT Sports.
Enzo Fernandez scored for Chelsea against Leicester City. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
“I’m trying to convince Enzo [to play] in the same way as I did last year with Ndidi and Kiernan, that attacking midfielders need to arrive in the box. The reason why he scored today was because he was inside the box.
“And, if he was outside of the box, he wouldn’t have scored the goal. We are happy in the way Enzo is doing.”
The Chelsea manager is capable of changing the fortunes of Fernandez and making him a goal scoring midfielder.
The fact that Ndidi and Dewsbury-Hall managed to score 20 goals between them last season in Leicester’s Championship winning season is enough proof of Maresca’s ability to bring the best out of his players.
The Blues remain third in the league behind Liverpool and Manchester City with Arsenal just behind them, putting pressure on them every week.
Chelsea host Aston Villa in the Premier League next and Maresca would be hoping to see Fernandez keep up his impressive form.
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