**Maresca Relieved as Chelsea Scrape Through to Europa Conference League**
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca admitted he was anxious ahead of his team’s Europa Conference League play-off second leg against Servette, despite eventually scraping through to the next round.
Following a 2-0 first-leg victory, Christopher Nkunku’s early penalty extended the Blues’ lead in the tie, seemingly extinguishing any hope the Swiss side had of pulling off a surprise result. However, Servette hit back with two goals to stun Chelsea, setting up a nervous finish.
“I think the first half an hour was comfortable, and we had three or four chances to make it 2-0,” said Maresca. “Then we concede the goal, and it’s normal to suffer a little bit.”
Maresca praised the performance of 18-year-old winger Tyrique George, who made his senior debut off the bench in the second half. “He was good, not shy, and had personality,” said Maresca. “We also had Josh Acheampong on the bench. Unfortunately, Ollie Harrison was not on the bench. It’s important to build something with the academy players.”
Chelsea fielded a much-changed starting XI from the side that beat Wolves 6-2 on Sunday. “It’s a competition that we are going to try and do our best in,” said Maresca. “The team, the way we started, the team was there, and then we conceded, they had some chances, and then we lost a little bit of confidence.”
Noni Madueke made his first appearance since his England call-up earlier on Thursday, fresh from scoring a hat-trick in Chelsea’s thumping win at Molineux. “Very happy,” said Maresca. “The important thing for him is to not drop anything and keep working hard.”
Despite the nervy finish, Maresca was relieved to have secured Chelsea’s place in the Europa Conference League.
