Enzo Maresca gets unexpected answer to his Cole Palmer injury problem

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Evening Standard

·24 de septiembre de 2025

Enzo Maresca gets unexpected answer to his Cole Palmer injury problem

Facundo Buonanotte shows that he can be a natural stand-in for the team’s talisman in the No10 role

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Among the few positives Enzo Maresca could take from Chelsea’s stodgy 2-1 Carabao Cup third-round win at Lincoln was the performance of Facundo Buonanotte.

On his second appearance for the Blues, the Argentine was Chelsea’s best player on an unconvincing night.

The 20-year-old picked up the ball from Tyrique George’s lay-off inside the box and, with close control, slid it home to net his first goal for Chelsea and earn both a place in the fourth-round draw and the Blues’ first win since last month.

It was a pleasing response to Maresca’s angry half-time team talk that appeared to spark his side into life, Buonanotte’s winner coming only two minutes after George has restored parity three minutes after the restart.

Buonanotte slides home the winner to see off a spirited Lincoln side

Action Images via Reuters

Buonanotte’s deadline-day move from Brighton was perhaps Chelsea’s most peculiar signing of the summer, a 12-month loan with no option to buy for a player deemed good enough to only start 14 Premier League games while on loan last season at eventually-relegated Leicester. When Ruud van Nistelrooy had come in as manager, he'd fallen out of the team.

Yet Buonanotte scored five league goals for the Foxes, often made an impact off the bench, and so was understandably seen as a risk-free option to bolster squad depth in central attacking areas by Chelsea recruiters whose love affair with Brighton, who visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday, appears to know no bounds.

Jamie Gittens, Alejandro Garnacho, Pedro Neto, Estevao and George are all fighting for game time in the same wide positions, but Buonanotte has only Cole Palmer ahead of him in the No10 role.

Palmer’s lingering groin issues mean Chelsea must manage him carefully through games and limit his minutes, and that could see Buonanotte play more than expected. He is the natural replacement.

Even if Palmer’s injury clears, there is an argument for Buonanotte relieving the Englishman’s load by replacing him late in games, as well as playing in matches when Maresca is better served resting Chelsea’s talisman.

Maresca substitutes an injured Palmer against Manchester United

Nick Potts/PA Wire

By the time Buonanotte made way for 16-year-old Reggie Walsh in the fifth minute of stoppage time at the LNER Stadium on Tuesday night, he had a 100 per cent pass completion rate from 25 passes, had attempted 15 duels, made three dribbles and won three fouls. His fine footwork helped Chelsea move the ball forward, and the only other player as eager to move swiftly and pounce when Lincoln had left space to exploit was Andrey Santos, whose snappy passing was just as effective.

“Buonanotte was very good,” said Maresca, who appeared to agree with the suggestion he had been Chelsea's brightest spark.

There is no chance of Buonanotte adding to his minutes on Saturday, of course, because he is ineligible to face his parent club.

The weeks ahead should, however, bring more opportunities for a player who has enjoyed a better start to life at Chelsea than many of their summer recruits.