Chelsea clinched their first victory under new coach Enzo Maresca with a 2-0 win against Servette in the first leg of their Conference League play-off round on Thursday.
After a challenging first half at Stamford Bridge, the hosts took the lead when Christopher Nkunku converted a 50th-minute penalty, marking his fourth goal for the club. Despite a missed open goal opportunity by Marc Guiu shortly after, Chelsea extended their advantage when Noni Madueke scored from a pass by Enzo Fernandez.
Swiss side Servette came close to narrowing the deficit late in the match, but Tiemoko Ouattara’s deflected shot struck the crossbar.
This win was a positive response for Chelsea following a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in Maresca’s debut game. The victory marks Chelsea’s return to European competition after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season under Mauricio Pochettino.
Maresca, who led Leicester to Premier League promotion last season, remarked, “We are learning how to manage the game. It was important to win with nine changes. There were many good things.”
Chelsea also faced a scare when key player Cole Palmer, who came on as a substitute, appeared to injure his leg at full-time. Maresca said, “Cole felt something but he looks fine. Hopefully, it is no problem and he can be available for Sunday’s game against Wolves.”
In other European play-off action, Greek club Panathinaikos lost 2-1 to 10-man Lens, with Wesley Said scoring the decisive goal for the Ligue 1 side. Former Spain and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea had a challenging debut as Fiorentina drew 3-3 with Puskas Akademia.
Irish club St Patrick’s kept their hopes alive for qualifying for a European group stage for the first time with a 0-0 draw against Istanbul Basaksehir. In the Europa League play-offs, Ajax defeated Jagiellonia 4-1 with Chuba Akpom scoring a hat-trick, while Besiktas drew 3-3 with Lugano and Scottish team Hearts lost 1-0 to Viktoria Plzen.
