On Thursday evening, during Chelsea’s crucial victory over Copenhagen, one Blues player excelled with his performance, proving Enzo Maresca’s assessment of him was accurate.
Chelsea seized control of the Conference League last-16 tie against Copenhagen by recording a 2-1 away win in the first leg. Therefore, they’ll be expected to finish the job in next week’s second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s travelling fans applauded the players after their efforts to win in Copenhagen. Incidentally, it was the team’s first away win across all competitions since beating Astana on 12 December.
Enzo Maresca, the Blues manager, is now preparing his side for Sunday’s Premier League fixture at home to strugglers Leicester City.
Enzo Fernandez was outstanding for Chelsea against Copenhagen
Without a doubt, Enzo Fernandez played a significant role during Chelsea’s win in Europe on Thursday.
In a dull first-half, the teams were locked together at 0-0 as the Blues struggled to create much going forward. It led to Maresca making multiple changes at the interval, including the introduction of Fernandez for the second period.
The 24-year-old central midfielder immediately injected a bit of extra care and intent with possession of the football. He even got on the scoresheet with a clinical finish in the box to make it 2-0 after Reece James’ opener.
| Minutes played | Goals | Accurate passes | Chances created | Touches | Dribbled past | Was fouled | Match rating |
| 45 | 1 | 43/43 (100%) | 1 | 50 | 1 | 1 | 7.5 |
According to Jason Cundy, Fernandez was pulling the strings against Copenhagen after coming on for the Blues as a half-time substitute.
In the upcoming league clash at home to Leicester, we expect the midfielder to play a key role in unlocking their defence and joining the attacks as an extra body around the penalty area.
Enzo Maresca proved right about Enzo Fernandez
Speaking back in January, Maresca insisted Fernandez could score more goals and provide a greater attacking threat for Chelsea. The head coach said: “We were sure he was going to score goals, give assists and create chances. I think being even more clinical, he could score three or four more goals with three or four more chances. But we have no doubt that we are going to be there soon with Enzo and help the team.”
Maresca was definitely right because that’s now two goals in his last three matches for Fernandez.
| Competition | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 25 | 4 | 4 |
| Conference League | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Conference League qualifiers | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| FA Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Carabao Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Fernandez’s attacking numbers are slowly creeping up because five goals and eight assists across all competitions is a decent return. Hopefully, he can finish the campaign strongly and push for double digits in both areas.
For Chelsea, it’s so vital that goals can pop up from all over the pitch, especially as they don’t have a clinical striker leading the line.
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