Chelsea were wasteful in attack during their 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca‘s men really should have won the game, having plenty of opportunities in the first half before eventually finding themselves 2-0 down.
It took an own goal from Axel Tuanzebe and a stunner from Jadon Sancho to level things up, with neither Cole Palmer nor Nicolas Jackson managing to score.
Maresca has now discussed Sancho, who could return to Manchester United at the end of the season.
Enzo Maresca praises Jadon Sancho after Ipswich Town goal
Sancho’s strike against Ipswich was only his third in the Premier League this season.
The winger has not scored enough goals in the current campaign. Maresca himself has demanded more from Sancho, but the Chelsea boss still seems pleased with him overall.
Speaking about the 25-year-old after the game, Maresca said to football.london and the rest of the English media: “Yeah, no, he’s doing well. Today we decided to start with Pedro [Neto] and Noni [Madueke]. Noni is back from injury, scored twice the other day. Pedro is doing well. And Jadon is playing almost every game.
“The idea was just to refresh a little bit with him, knowing that he’s going to give us a good moment, goal assist, and he’ll show himself in the second half. Then for the future, to be honest, now is the moment. With one month to go, it’s just the focus. It’s about how we can finish, and then we have time to decide.”
To go with his three goals, Sancho has also recorded four assists in the English top flight. He registered two in Chelsea‘s last Conference League fixture against Legia Warszawa as well.
Joe Cole’s advice for Jadon Sancho
Someone who knows what it takes to play on the wing is Joe Cole, and the Chelsea legend recently had some words of advice for Sancho.
Watching the England international regularly, Cole thinks he needs to be more direct and take players on on the outside.
When Cole spoke about Sancho during the week, he said: “That’s what I want to see more from him: take him on the outside. You want to see him be more direct, and he was tonight in the second half. Pleased for him as well.”
If Sancho can do that and score a few more goals before the end of the season, then Chelsea may very well decide to keep him.
As of now, though, it would not be a surprise if the club decided to send him back to Old Trafford. Earning £100,000 a week at Chelsea, Sancho has not been consistent enough under Maresca. He can have no complaints if the Blues choose not to make his loan move a permanent.
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