Maresca says Chelsea showed they are a ‘serious’ team after thrashing FC Noah | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca says he wanted Chelsea to show they are “serious” after thrashing FC Noah 8-0 at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues led by six at half-time and added a further two goals in the second half. Christopher Nkunku scored a brace, while Marc Guiu scored his first competitive goal for the club.

“The most important thing is that we are serious, we are professional,” Maresca said.

“This is the right thing we needed to show tonight.

“We have to be serious. It’s never easy, as I said before: football is full of surprises. If you are not ready mentally, if you do not take it seriously, you can drop against any team.”

His pre-match message, he claimed, was that Chelsea do not underestimate their guests, ranked almost 300 places behind the Blues by UEFA.

“In the first five minutes we conceded a chance. So you can learn, as I said, if you concede there, the game will change. You have to always be focused, you cannot drop.

“Don’t underestimate nothing because football is full of this kind of surprise. We don’t need that.”

While he insists he considered Noah a serious opponent, Maresca handed minutes to a pair of Chelsea youngsters, giving Tyrique George his full debut and allowing Samuel Rak-Sakyi an extended second half cameo.

George was reportedly given just two hours notice about his start, but Maresca believes the nerves did not affect him.

“With young players, sometimes it is better to tell them the day before so they can prepare but with some of them, tell them at the end so they don’t get nervous.

“The plan with Tyrique, we knew already he was going to start but I told him just two hours before the game. I think he was very good.”

Maresca had the same affection for Rak-Sakyi, who came close to scoring a first Chelsea goal as he fired over from range in the late stages.