Enzo Maresca praised his players’ “professional” performance as Chelsea comfortably saw off League Two Morecambe 5-0 in the FA Cup Third Round.
Tosin Adarabioyo and Joao Felix both bagged braces, while Christopher Nkunku, who saw a first-half penalty saved, also scored to ensure there was to be no cup upset at Stamford Bridge.
Eighty-seven places separate the two sides in the English footballing pyramid and, in the end, the gulf in quality was evident as Maresca’s team progressed to the Fourth Round in convincing fashion.
Progressing to the fourth round of the #EmiratesFACup! 🏆#CFC pic.twitter.com/Eqw9mWrJdd
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 11, 2025
Speaking after the game, Maresca said: “It was a good afternoon in terms of the win, that is important. Also, the performance in this kind of game shows how serious and professional we are.
“The FA Cup is an important competition. Since we started, we are trying to deal with every competition in the same way. We try to do our best in every competition.”
The Chelsea boss, who took the opportunity to make wholesale changes to the starting eleven, revealed Noni Madueke missed the game due to illness.
Maresca also empathised the need to be patient regarding the fitness of returning players, such as Reece James, and added that the likes of Nkunku and Felix will let their football do the talking.
“The idea is to slowly build the right condition,” Maresca said. “Especially with Reece [James], we need to be a bit more careful. Him and Romeo [Lavia] both finished well with no problem. We have to help them to get in the right condition.
“Christo [Nkunku] and Joao [Felix] didn’t knock on the door or ask anything, but they don’t need to.”
Next up for Chelsea is the visit of Bournemouth in the Premier League on Tuesday.
