With every result, Enzo Maresca is making Chelsea believe again. Even as his side coasted to victory – their fifth in succession in all competitions – against Gent, the Italian could be seen prowling the touchline issuing instructions.
At a club where the thinking has become increasingly muddled, Maresca’s straightforward approach seems to be paying dividends. Second-half goals from Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall saw off the Belgian side after the impressive Renato Veiga had opened the scoring.
But without the services of Cole Palmer after Saturday’s four-goal hero was left out of their Conference League squad, Chelsea showed that they have plenty of other options and it will be difficult for anyone to stop them becoming the first side to complete the full set of European trophies if they decide to take this competition seriously.
Even with 11 changes from their impressive win over Brighton here on Saturday, Maresca was able to name a forward line that cost Chelsea £200m to assemble. According to the website TransferRoom, their squad is worth roughly the same as the other 35 clubs who are taking part in this season’s Conference League and they began the group stages as heavy favourites to go all the way to the final in Wrocław.
Gent have played in every edition of this tournament since it was introduced by Uefa in 2021 and were beaten by West Ham in the last eight on their way to lifting the trophy a year ago. Wouter Vrancken’s side battled through three qualifying rounds to reach this stage after finishing seventh in the Belgian league and included two players with famous fathers in their starting lineup.
Eidur Gudjohnsen was in the stands to watch his son, 22-year-old striker Andri, take on his former club, while Noah Fadiga – the son of former Bolton and Senegal winger Khalilou Fadiga – attempted to provide support for him in attack.
But with Neto and Mykhailo Mudryk in the mood to impress in the absence of Palmer and co, it wasn’t long before Chelsea went ahead. Neto had already set up Tosin Adarabioyo for a header with a delicate cross moments earlier when Mudryk popped up on the same flank to deliver an inch-perfect ball for Veiga to head home at the back post.
Dewsbury-Hall should have doubled the lead when Neto wiggled away from his marker and squared the ball into the midfielder’s path but he shot just wide.
Gent’s first sight of goal came just after the half hour mark when Archie Brown, a product of Derby’s academy who plays for England’s Under-20 side, drew Filip Jørgensen into a save after a quick break.
But their vociferous travelling support could not believe it when Gudjohnsen fired inches over with a powerful drive that would have left the Chelsea goalkeeper with no chance. Maresca had some choice words for Mudryk on one occasion when he gave the ball away cheaply. But the Ukrainian showed his ability when he skipped past Hugo Gambor just before half-time and it needed a scrambled clearance to keep Chelsea at bay.
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Barely 30 seconds had elapsed since the restart when Neto took advantage of a moment’s hesitation between Gambor and Watanabe to lash home Chelsea’s second goal after a long ball from captain Axel Disasi. But Gent hit back immediately when the Japan defender rose above Benoît Badiashile and headed in Gudjohnsen’s cross to the delight of the fans behind Jørgensen’s goal.
Chelsea were forced to go on the attack again and Nkunku made Gent pay for failing to clear a corner when he lashed home from inside the area and the goal was allowed to stand despite it appearing that Veiga was offside in the buildup.
Fadiga and Gudjohnsen were withdrawn straight after the goal and it needed a block from Badiashile to prevent substitute Max Dean from scoring with his first touch. Dewsbury-Hall removed any lingering doubts about the result when he raced onto João Félix’s through ball to score Chelsea’s fourth.
To their credit, Gent continued to attack and a brilliant run from Brown saw the 22-year-old almost pull one back late on before substitute Omri Gandelman grabbed a late consolation that did little to dampen the home crowd’s enthusiasm.