Chelsea recorded their first victory under new coach Enzo Maresca with a 2-0 win over Servette in the first leg of their Conference League play-off round on Thursday.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea initially struggled to penetrate their opponents’ defense. However, Christopher Nkunku gave Chelsea the lead with a penalty in the 50th minute, marking his fourth goal for the club.
Noni Madueke extended Chelsea’s advantage, moving them closer to securing a group-stage spot, by scoring from an Enzo Fernandez pass.
Servette’s Tiemoko Ouattara came close to reducing the deficit late in the game, but his deflected shot hit the crossbar.
This victory was a positive outcome for Chelsea, who had lost 2-0 to Manchester City in Maresca’s debut game over the weekend.
Chelsea is making a return to European competition following a sixth-place finish in the Premier League last season under Mauricio Pochettino.
In other Conference League matches, Greek club Panathinaikos lost 2-1 to 10-man Lens, with Wesley Said scoring the decisive goal for the Ligue 1 team.
Former Spain and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea faced challenges in his debut as Fiorentina drew 3-3 at home against Puskas Akademia from Hungary.
Irish side St Patrick’s managed to keep their hopes of reaching the group stage alive with a 0-0 draw against Istanbul Basaksehir.
In the Europa League play-offs, Dutch club Ajax defeated Jagiellonia 4-1 in Poland, with Chuba Akpom netting a hat-trick.
Besiktas squandered a 3-1 lead, drawing 3-3 with Lugano in Switzerland, while Scottish team Hearts fell 1-0 to Viktoria Plzen.
