Enzo Maresca Explains Cole Palmer’s Substitution During Chelsea’s Win Over Legia Warsaw
- Chelsea pulled off an inspiring second-half performance to beat Legia Warsaw in the Conference League
- Noni Madueke scored twice after youngster Tyrique George had put the Blues ahead early in the second half
- Cole Palmer was substituted at halftime after struggling in the first half against the Polish team
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has explained his substitutions against Legia Warsaw, particularly removing talisman Cole Palmer from the action at halftime.
Chelsea beat Legia Warsaw 3-0 away in Poland in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League quarterfinal to give themselves an advantage ahead of the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Source: Getty Images
The Blues came alive in the second 45 minutes after a poor first half. Youngster Tyrique George opened the scoring with his first professional goal, and Noni Madueke came off the bench to score two goals on either side of Christopher Nkunku’s penalty miss.
Maresca managed to secure a win while managing to rotate the squad effectively, with midfield duo Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo watching the match from the bench.
Maresca explains Palmer substitution
Fans on social media were agitated after Maresca took Cole Palmer and Tosin Adarabioyo off at half time and replaced them with Madueke and Levi Colwill.
Madueke justified his chance with two goals, but beyond that, fans were worried about what went wrong for the manager to remove Palmer despite chasing the game.
Maresca, during his post-match conference, allayed fears by confirming that the substitutions were planned, and the English attacker did not come out due to any issue.
“We planned the game to try to have our best players for this game and give chances to the rest of the players to recover energy,” he said, as quoted by Football London.
“We planned for him [Palmer] and Tosin [Adarabioyo] to come off in 45 minutes. Everything is fine.”
Palmer's struggle for form since December coincides with Chelsea's struggles. To make it worse, he missed the March international break for England due to injury.
Nigeria-eligible stars featured for Chelsea
Three Nigeria-eligible players featured for the Londoners in the win, including goalscorers George and Madueke, as well as defender Tosin Adarabioyo.
Source: Getty Images
Madueke’s international future is sealed as he is already cap-tied with England, having earned five senior international appearances, ruling him out of switching allegiance.
George is still a youth player and can decide to play for either England, Nigeria or Ghana, while Adarabioyo, as noted by OwnGoal Nigeria, continues to pend his decision despite NFF’s efforts.
On George’s first goal, Maresca said:
“Happy first of all for the Chelsea academy because he is one of our boys. He was quite good in the first half, taking responsibility. He was probably better in the middle.”
Police seized Caicedo’s car
Legit.ng reported that police seized Caicedo's car after they found out that the £115 million British transfer record had been driving without a valid licence.
The Ecuadorian midfielder was pulled over last week while leaving the club's training ground at Cobham and is under investigation for illegal driving.
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Source: Legit.ng
