Chelsea manager Maresca is happy with the win but admits that Fernandez is playing catchy football

Enzo Maresca feels his Chelsea side continue to improve after registering the first win of their pre-season tour of the United States with a 3-0 win over Club America.

Maresca did not have an easy start with the West London club following his move from Leicester City. A race dispute over midfielder Enzo Fernandez flared up for more than a fortnight before being resolved during a draw with League One side Wrexham and a 4-1 thrashing by Celtic that raised eyebrows.

But last night's win, which came through penalties from Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke or another header from young striker Marc Guiu, finally brought relief.

Maresca said: “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 should be to analyze or judge the performance and see how we have improved.

“From my point of view, from Wrexham, to Celtic, to today, we continue to improve. This is a very important thing.

“We struggled against Wrexham for many reasons, we struggled against Celtic for many reasons but there are many important things we have improved. [against Celtic]. And today, we continued that line, which is very important.

“Since we started, what we do in training must happen in the game. Against Wrexham, we prepared for something and it happened. When we face Celtic, it's the same as today, the same thing.”

So, very silky. ✨#BluesInTheUSA pic.twitter.com/fjh5bAU1hZ

– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 1, 2024

Fernandez is back in the mix

Fernandez's return to the club on Monday following a long summer break threatens to cause disruption but the club say the matter is closed and team-mate Wesley Fofana – one of the biggest critics of the Argentinian's behavior – posted a video on social media asking questions. the legacy of black and mixed French players – he accepted his apology.

The former Benfica midfielder made his second 45-minute appearance in Atlanta and Maresca admitted he was playing catch-up football.

On the team's website he said: “You can see that you are a little behind. In terms of his physical condition, he was slow. He had one or two sessions with us so 45 minutes today was another opportunity to give him another session.

“These types of games, and we use them as a training session and for Enzo, today was a very good training session.”