Chelsea ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in their UEFA Conference League quarter-final first leg away to Legia Warsaw on Thursday night.
Enzo Maresca’s side were dominant throughout and will now take a lead back to Stamford Bridge that puts them in a very comfortable position.
It actually took Chelsea until the 49th minute before they took the lead, and what a moment it was for their young attacker Tyrique George, who scored his first goal for the Blues.
He showed good instinct, too, following in a strike from Reece James, whose strike was pushed by Kacper Tobiasz into the path of the Chelsea youngster.
From there, the floodgates somewhat opened for Chelsea, who scored twice, in the 57th and 74th minutes, with the same combination linking up both times. Jadon Sancho set fellow England international Noni Madueke up twice to help Maresca’s men to the 3-0 scoreline by which they won.
It was two sharp pieces of play by Sancho, who first played Madueke in on the right-hand corner of the box, driving into space ahead of him. For the second, he went on the outside of the full-back and played a perfectly weighted ball across the face of the goal.
It was an eye-catching showing for Sancho, just as it was for Madueke, who was one of the Blues’ standout players.
Madueke’s performance in numbers vs. Legia Warsaw
What an exceptional performance Chelsea fans were treated to by their number 11. The former PSV Eindhoven winger, who replaced star man Cole Palmer at half-time, ran the show for the Blues.
His two goals were brilliant finishes; the first strike was composed, latching onto Sancho’s pass, taking a touch and firing his effort into the near corner. His second showed great poacher’s instinct, gambling in the penalty box to get on the end of a ball into the area.
One of the onlookers who rated Madueke’s performance highly was GOAL reporter Richie Mills. He gave the England international a stunning 9/10 for his performance, explaining he had an “instant impact” when he was brought onto the pitch by Maresca.
The winger’s stats from the game, courtesy of Sofascore, show just how well he played in his 45-minute cameo. He amassed an impressive 100% pass completion rate, won three of his five attempted duels and created one chance.
As well as Madueke played in Warsaw, there was a Chelsea player who was far worse, and you could argue had his blushes saved by their number 11.
Chelsea's worst player vs. Legia Warsaw
It has not been an easy season for Christopher Nkunku, with journalist Nizaar Kinsella explaining the Frenchman “can’t catch a break at the moment”. Indeed, those struggles continued away to Legia Warsaw.
Performance in Numbers
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The former Paris Saint-Germain academy star missed a penalty, although Sancho did pick the ball up in the run of play that followed and created Madueke’s second goal. He didn’t really offer much leading the line outside of that.
The stats from Nkunku’s performance in Poland show just how much he struggled. He had just 48 touches of the ball, completing 29 out of 32 passes, losing the ball six times and missing one big chance.
Touches
48
Passes completed
29/32
Duels won
5/8
Shots
4
Key passes
1
Big chances missed
1
Expected goals
1.16 xG
Mills’ review of Nkunku’s performance was damning. He gave him a 4/10 rating, explaining that he “didn’t provide the forward presence Chelsea needed” before suggesting that his “confidence seems quite low right now”.
The next few weeks are huge for the Blues. They have a battle on their hands to qualify for the Champions League via a top-five finish in the Premier League and are also looking to keep up the momentum in Europe.
With his confidence quite low at the moment and plenty of options for Maresca to pick from, including Madueke, it remains to be seen if Nkunku will manage to keep his place in the side.
It is a big end to the season for Chelsea, and competition for places is strong. There is no doubt Maresca needs his side at his best, and perhaps time out of the spotlight will help Nkunku in the long run.
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