Chelsea thrashes Servette in competitive match

Chelsea defeated Servette 2-0 in their Conference League play-off round first leg on Thursday, earning their first win under new coach Enzo Maresca. Before Christopher Nkunku gave the home team the lead with a penalty kick in the 50th minute just his fourth goal for the team the hosts at Stamford Bridge found it difficult to break down their opponents in the first half.

Ahead of the second leg the following week, Noni Madueke put Chelsea closer to a group-stage spot with a goal off of a ball from Enzo Fernandez. Tiemoko Ouattara’s deflected shot struck the crossbar late in the game, thus missing the chance to give Swiss side Servette a response.

Chelsea was happy to win after losing 2-0 to Manchester City in Maresca’s debut match the previous weekend. Under Mauricio Pochettino, the Blues finished sixth in the Premier League the previous season, and they are now participating in European competitions.

In other news, Ligue 1 team Panathinaikos of Greece lost their first-leg match 2-1 against 10-man Lens, with Wesley Said scoring the game’s winning goal. David de Gea, the goalkeeper for both Manchester United and Spain in the past, had a challenging debut as Fiorentina was held to a 3-3 home tie by Puskas Akademia of Hungary.

Drawing 0-0 with Istanbul Basaksehir, Irish club St Patrick’s maintained their hopes of making it to a European tournament group stage for the first time. English forward Chuba Akpom scored a hat-trick as Dutch powerhouse Ajax defeated Jagiellonia 4-1 in Poland during the Europa League play-offs.