Noni Madueke may have been the matchwinner but it was Josh Acheampong who received the “love” of boss Enzo Maresca following Chelsea’s 3-0 win at Legia Warsaw tonight.
Madueke scored twice after Tyrique George had netted the opener as the Premier League side coasted past Legia in the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final.
England winger Madueke was only introduced at the break, replacing Cole Palmer, but his two goals mean Chelsea have one foot in the last four.
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Versatile Acheampong impresses Maresca
Acheampong has played across the defence and in midfield for Chelsea and Maresca is a big fan of the 18-year-old.
He said: “I fall in love tonight with Josh Acheampong because for me potentially he can be a fantastic player, top player for this club, for football in general and a good player shows you they can play in different positions and he can do good.
“He was at full-back, good, midfielder, good, central defender, good, so it’s not about I play in that position or in that position, if you are a good player you can be in different positions.
“To be honest since we start I’m in love with him but tonight he showed that he can be a very good player for this club.”
‘He wants to learn’
Maresca was particularly impressed by Acheampong’s willingness to learn, adding: “He can be good in different positions and the best thing from Josh also is that he’s open, he wants to learn; ‘Ok, full back? No problem, what do I have to do? ‘Perfect, midfielder, what do I have to do?’
“Good players, they want to play in all positions, they want to learn and Josh is doing that since we started.”
Maresca backs Nkunku to transform fortunes
Maresca explained Palmer’s withdrawal at half-time was pre-planned and also backed Christopher Nkunku to turn round his poor form.
The France winger missed a penalty against Legia but Maresca is confident his fortunes will improve.
“Probably in this moment it is a lack of confidence and the reason why is because he’s missing goals or a penalty like tonight but the only way to deal with that is to work hard every day because when you work hard for sure the reward is important,” said Maresca.
“The problem is when you stop working and the good thing about Christoph is that he’s working well every day.”
