Chelsea went out of the FA Cup with a whimper last night after being defeated 2-1 by Brighton and Hove Albion.
Despite opening the scoring in the first five minutes, the Blues offered very little in front of goal and came undone by goals either side of half-time.
Enzo Maresca was desperately searching for a solution to recent injury setbacks that saw both Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu missing from the matchday squad.
Steve Sidwell says lack of gametime is why Christopher Nkunku missing glorious chance for Chelsea vs Brighton
This allowed Christopher Nkunku start up front, just weeks after he looked set for a move away from the club in the January transfer window.
It has been clear that the manager has not seen the Frenchman as the answer to their goalscoring woes as a number nine, however last night he was given the chance to feature from the start.
He couldn’t of asked for a better goalscoring chance too. After a brilliant pass by Moises Caicedo, Nkunku latched on to the bouncing ball, but rather than shooting decided to try and pass to Cole Palmer instead, with the chance going begging.
Former Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell believes the lack of gametime the former RB Leipzig man has under his belt of late impacted his decision to not shoot with his weak foot.
He told ITV Football: “If he’s playing and he’s confident, he’s burying that with his left foot.
“He looks really bright, his movement’s been great. He’s been dropping really deep, that’s obviously been the gameplan. It’s just that lack of confidence in front of goal, he needs to get one and build on that.”
What has Enzo Maresca said about Christopher Nkunku?
After Nkunku impressed off the bench against West Ham last week, Maresca hinted he would be a bigger part of his plans for the second half of the season.
He said in his pre-match press conference: “For sure, for sure… Against West Ham he played more or less half an hour. Hopefully from now on he can get more minutes and help us.
“Absolutely, absolutely yes. We were sure before the transfer window that Christo was one of the player our intention was to keep him.”
The Blues lost Joao Felix in January, and are likely to address the attacking areas in the summer with multiple new signings.
Until then, they need to find an answer to their problems, although Nkunku did little last night to prove he is the solution.
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