Chelsea hammered Nottingham Forest with a 3-0 win as Premier League action resumes on Saturday at the City Ground in Nottingham.
A solid second-half performance saw the Blues secure yet another win to build on their victory over Liverpool heading into the international break.
The visitors had a slow start in the first half as they gave away some clear-cut chances to Forest but the hosts were wasteful in attack and eventually, they paid the price in the second half.
Chelsea looked like a different team in the second half as Josh Acheampong found the opening goal in the 49th minute followed by goals from Pedro Neto and Reece James to secure their fourth win of the current season.
While it was an inspiring win for the Blues, there were questions over the starting lineup and their performance in the first half.
Enzo Maresca fielded Romeo Lavia and Andrey Santos in midfield as Moises Caicedo started from the bench whereas Enzo Fernandez was not even included in the matchday squad.
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Lavia looked extremely jade in some sequences as he gave the ball away easily and also committed reckless fouls and therefore Caicedo replaced him in the second half.
"I always try to do my best, sometimes I am wrong," Maresca told reporters after the win. "We knew Romeo wasn't going to play 90. Moi couldn't either. We started with Romeo [Lavia] and left Moi [Caicedo] on the bench. [Alejandro] Garnacho did fantastic against Liverpool, so it was good to give him a chance. Marc Guiu was good. We expected them with a back four. Joao Pedro against a back four is better."
Overall, it was a morale boosting win for Chelsea especially that they won without Maresca's presence on the touchline after his suspension against Liverpool.
What did Maresca say about Acheampong's performance?
Following his exceptional outing against Liverpool in the last fixture, Acheampong kept his spot in the starting eleven and delivered a strong performance against Forest.
He helped the Blues soak the pressure in the first half and came up with a timely opening goal in the second half with a perfect header.
"I really like Josh Acheampong after the confidence we gave him since last season," Maresca stated. "It's important that he is ready when others are out, he has a great future."
Amidst all the positivity, Chelsea maintained their consistency in receiving a red card as Malo Gusto was sent off in the 87th minute.
However, Maresca was not much bothered about the red cards as he rather highlights the Frenchman's desire which is more important for the Italian.
"It's something we can do better. But I am not concerned. We can avoid it, for sure, but for me, the desire of the players is important. It's useless to make a second yellow card with a foul but Malo showed his desire. It's the balance but we can avoid that, for sure."
Chelsea for the time being have climbed up to fourth spot in the Premier League points table, collecting 14 points from eight matches. The Blues will again take the field against Ajax in a midweek Champions League fixture on October 22 at the Stamford Bridge.
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