Europa League: Madueke brace, George’s breakthrough put Chelsea in command against Legia Warsaw

Tyrique George scored his first senior goal before Noni Madueke netted a second-half brace to give Chelsea a dominant 3-0 win over Legia Warsaw in the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final.

George, a product of Chelsea’s academy since the age of eight, tapped in the opener just four minutes after the break following a laboured first-half performance by the Blues.

Head coach, Enzo Maresca, made a planned change at half-time, introducing Madueke for Cole Palmer.

The Sky Sports reported that the substitute made an immediate impact, doubling Chelsea’s lead with a composed finish into the bottom-right corner.

Chelsea looked sharper and more fluid in the second half, moving the ball quicker and constantly threatening the Polish side’s defence.

Although Christopher Nkunku’s poor run continued — his penalty saved by goalkeeper Kacper Tobiasz — Madueke capitalised moments later.

Just 25 seconds after the miss, he finished off a Jadon Sancho square pass to seal Chelsea’s commanding advantage heading into the second leg at Stamford Bridge on April 17.

Speaking after the match, Maresca said the rotation was intentional to keep players fresh:

“We planned to try and have our best players for this game and give chances to the rest of the players to recover energy. Overall, a professional performance, a good result.”

On George and Josh Acheampong, Maresca praised their maturity and versatility:

“Happy, first of all, for the Chelsea academy because he (George) is one of our boys. He was quite good, taking responsibility.

The one I fall in love with tonight is Josh Acheampong. He can be a fantastic player for this club… he’s open, he wants to learn.”

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