Enzo Maresca provides update on 5 Chelsea players amid injury concerns
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has provided an injury update on five players after their pre-season friendly against Club America. The Blues won 3-0 in their third friendly this summer at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday, July 31.
Malo Gusto, Benoit Badiashile, and Christopher Nkunku all started the game but had to be subbed off due to what appeared to be minor injuries. After the game, Maresca confirmed that it was just a cramp, saying (via Chelseafc.com):
"Fortunately for Malo, Benoit and Christo, all of them, it was just cramp."
Nicolas Jackson and Moises Caicedo, meanwhile, remained out of action due to their respective injuries. About them, Maresca said:
"For Nicolas and Moi, they are very close. They are still doing some work apart from the team but hopefully next week they can start to train with us."
Chelsea, meanwhile, won the game 3-0 against Club America. Nkunku opened the scoring in the third minute from the penalty spot before new signing Marc Guiu doubled their lead in the 21st minute. Noni Madueke then completed the scoring with another penalty in the 79th minute.
This was the Blues' first victory of this pre-season, having drawn 2-2 against Wrexham before losing 4-1 against Celtic.
Enzo Maresca pleased with Chelsea's progression in 3 friendlies so far
Enzo Maresca's time at Stamford Bridge started with a 2-2 draw against League One side Wrexham. Scottish giants Celtic then hammered the Blues 4-1 before they finally got a win against Club America.
After the game, Enzo Maresca said that he was pleased with his side's performance and also the consistent improvements they've shown in the three games. He said (via Chelseafc.com):
"I am very happy. I said the other day when we lost that the result is always important because we are Chelsea but the main focus for us at the moment has to be to analyse or to judge the performance and see how we have improved..."
"We struggled against Wrexham for many reasons, we struggled against Celtic for many reasons but there were many important things which we improved [against Celtic]. And today, we continued that line, which is the most important thing."
The west London side will next take on Manchester City (August 3) and Real Madrid (August 6) on their US tour. They will then face Inter Milan on August 11 at Stamford Bridge before their Premier League opener against Manchester City on August 18.