Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has criticized Noni Madueke despite him scoring and assisting in the Blues’ 5-1 routing of Southampton. Maresca has urged Madueke to work harder, saying he can do “much, much, much better” for the club.
Noni Madueke Was Excellent as Chelsea Beat Southampton
Chelsea bagged an emphatic 5-1 victory over Southampton in the Premier League on Wednesday night, December 4. Seven minutes into the game, Axel Disasi put the visitors in front at the St. Mary’s Stadium. Chelsea’s lead, however, lasted just four minutes as Joe Aribo restored parity for Southampton.
Six minutes later, the game changed once more, as Madueke showed superb awareness to pick up a loose pass in midfield and find Christopher Nkunku with a slide-rule delivery. The Frenchman kept his cool and rolled the ball into the back of the net. In the 34th minute, Madueke doubled Chelsea’s advantage, curling the ball beyond the reach of the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Jack Stephens saw a red card for violent conduct following a challenge on Marc Cucurella, leaving 10-man Southampton with a mountain to climb. Cole Palmer (76′) and Jadon Sancho (87′) — who came on for Madueke in the 72nd minute — added one goal each to seal the win.
Enzo Maresca Wants to See More from Noni Madueke
Speaking after the game, Maresca made it clear that he was not fully satisfied with Madueke’s display on Wednesday.
He said (via talkSPORT):
“Noni can do much more. When he scores and assists and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit. The reason he was not playing was because of the way he was training.
“When he scores one, he needs to keep trying to score and assist. Noni needs to understand he has to work more and he can be much, much, much better.”
Madueke himself admitted that he could have had a hat-trick on Wednesday but appeared content with a goal and an assist.
The Englishman said:
“I could have scored a hat-trick today, quite easily.
“But a goal and an assist is okay, I’ll take that. I’ll go into the next game and try and help my team.”
Madueke has played 13 Premier League games for Chelsea this season, scoring five goals and providing two assists.
