Enzo Maresca has delivered his verdict on Alejandro Garnacho’s performance against Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Chelsea scraped into the fourth round thanks to a 2-1 win against the League One high flyers on an otherwise forgettable night for the Blues.
Maresca’s men turned in an awful first-half performance in which they were booed off after heading in a goal down.
However, two quickfire goals in the opening five minutes of the second half saw the Blues turn the game on its head.
The game was a special one for Garnacho as it saw him make his full debut for the club after sealing a move from Manchester United over the summer.
The Argentine winger was largely ineffective going forward and failed to make an impact on the game, and now Maresca has delivered his verdict on the player’s performance.
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Enzo Maresca delivers his verdict on Alejandro Garnacho’s performance
After the disappointing performance against Manchester United, Maresca named a strong line-up with Enzo Fernandez captaining the side.
After being left on the bench against United, Garnacho was handed his first start since making the move from the Red Devils.
Garnacho was given a rough time by the Lincoln supporters and was heavily booed every time he touched the ball.
The Argentine had a few nice moments on the ball, but struggled to make a serious impact on the game, and was withdrawn just before the hour mark.
Despite being taken off first, Maresca was still pleased with what he saw from the Argentina international on his first start.
“Absolutely,” he told talkSPORT when asked if Garnacho had taken his opportunity.
“It was not an easy game. That’s why I was upset in the first half because we know we need to do better.
“But overall, him [Garnacho], [Jamie] Gittens, they did very well.”
To be fair, both Garnacho and Gittens were far from impressive on Tuesday night and, surprisingly, Maresca has praised their performances.
Having featured against Lincoln City in mid-week, it is unlikely that Gittens and Garnacho will feature from the off on the weekend against Brighton and Hove Albion.
Given the competition for places at Chelsea, both players will have to earn their place in the team going forward, and it’ll be interesting to see when the duo features next for the club.
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