Enzo Maresca delivers Alejandro Garnacho verdict as Chelsea scrape past Lincoln | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has praised Alejandro Garnacho for his performance against Lincoln on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup.

The Blues scraped into the fourth round thanks to a 2-1 win against the League One high flyers, on what was very much a night to forget for Chelsea.

Maresca’s men turned in an awful first half performance in which, they were booed off after heading in a goal down.

Enzo Maresca speaks on Alejandro Garnacho performance

After the disappointing performance against Manchester United, Maresca named a strong line-up with Enzo Fernandez captaining the side.

After being left on the bench against United, Garnacho was handed his first start since making the £40m switch from the Red Devils.

Garnacho was handed his first Chelsea start against Lincoln. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Garnacho was given a rough time by the Lincoln supporters and was heavily booed every time he touched the ball.

The Argentine had a few nice moments on the ball, but struggled to make a serious impact on the game, and was withdrawn just before the hour mark.

Despite being taken off first, Maresca was still pleased with what he saw from the Argentina international on his first start.

“Absolutely,” he told talkSPORT when asked if Garnacho had taken his opportunity.

“It was not an easy game. That’s why I was upset first half because we know we need to do better.

“But overall, him [Garnacho], [Jamie] Gittens, they did very well.”

Facundo Buonanotte earns plaudits

Another player Maresca was pleased with was Facundo Buonanotte, as the Argentine scored his first goal for the Blues.

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Buonanotte was handed his second start in the number ten role, and like his team-mates struggled in the first half.

However, he finished a nice move after an interchange with Tyrique George, which turned out to be the winning goal, and Maresca admitted he thought the Argentine played really well.