By Ashton Cox
Enzo Maresca said that Chelsea deserved their 2-1 win away at Copenhagen in the first-leg of the UEFA Conference League.
After a sloppy first-half from both teams that resulted in no shots on target for the Blues, Maresca was forced to bring on several key players.
Shumaira Mheuka made his Chelsea debut to become the youngest ever starter in a European game for the West Londoners, although he was one of three men hooked at half-time.
Inspired by the introduction of Enzo Fernandez, Levi Colwill and Christopher Nkunku, Chelsea took control of proceedings to claim their first away win since December 12.
Maresca said: “Yeah, very important [to win] for many reasons. For sure because it’s away, for sure because it’s a knockout game now so you need that. In the first-half, we controlled the game, we didn’t create chances.
“Overall, we deserved to win the game and it’s good because we gave chances to all of them to get minutes.”
Reece James started the match from midfield alongside Moises Caicedo, a role he has become somewhat familiar to since his loan spell at Wigan.
He scored Chelsea’s opening goal, picking the ball up from 25 yards out and finding the bottom-left corner.
Now, Maresca has confirmed where he sees James fitting in his system in the future.
He stated: “Tonight, again, he played very good, scored a goal. He can play in many positions because the good players can play in many positions. When I signed with Chelsea, probably the day after, I sent him a video about seeing him as a midfielder.
“I see Reece as a midfielder, not now – since day one.”
After being in a seemingly comfortable position, the Blues will be frustrated with how they let another team grow back into the game after falling behind.
This has been a common occurrence all season, most notably in defeats against Aston Villa, Brighton and Manchester City.
James noted: “Of course it’s always frustrating to concede so late on in the game. Our goal was to keep a clean sheet, and we didn’t manage that today but we got the win.”
Chelsea took the lead less than a minute after half-time, with Reece James’ 25-yard strike coming from Marc Cucurella’s cutback on the left wing.
Enzo doubled the lead in the 65th minute after Cucurella robbed Giorgi Gocholeishvili of possession in Copenhagen’s defensive third, leading to Tyrique George laying the ball on a plate for the Argentinian midfielder.
However, the Danish outfit grew into the game and finally nicked a goal back from a free-kick, as Marcos Lopez’s delivery towards the back post found an unmarked Gabriel Pereira, who headed in.