ENZO MARESCA will be scratching his head after his Chelsea side survived a Carabao Cup scare.
The Blues scraped through against Lincoln City in the third round after a shoddy first half.
Imps ace Rob Street put the hosts ahead before Tyrique George and Facundo Buonanotte put Chelsea ahead.
But what was supposed to be a comfortable evening was far from it as the Club World Cup champions were pushed to the wire.
The match at Sincil Bank was supposed to give some respite after defeats away at Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
Garnacho endures trying debut
Much of the pre-match attention centred on Alejandro Garnacho, who was handed his first start since a high-profile move from Man United.
It proved to be a rough night for the Argentine against aggressive League One opposition.
Much was rightly expected from the winger, but we saw very little as he struggled to make an impact.
He tried his luck on both flanks in the first half but was largely booed and kicked, and that was pretty much all we saw from him before he was hooked just before the hour mark.
A night to forget for Garnacho, though he was not alone in underperforming.
George and Buonanotte provide the spark
While plenty of big names failed to deliver, two of the side’s younger players provided the bright spots just after the break.
George, the academy graduate who came so close to joining Roma over the summer, started through the middle and marked the occasion with a fine equaliser, thrashing one in from the edge of the box a couple of minutes into the second half.
George’s inclusion came after Chelsea left Mark Guiu at home, seemingly unaware that the striker was not cup-tied after a rule change this season.
Minutes later, Facundo Buonanotte, on loan from Brighton, scored his first goal for the club to give Chelsea the lead.
Defensive frailties cause for concern
Perhaps the biggest concern for Maresca will be the performance of his defence, which was all over the place at times.
Despite fielding a strong backline including Fofana and Gusto, they struggled to defend as Lincoln bombarded them with long throws and looping crosses.
Goalkeeper Jorgensen also looked out of sorts, flapping at a lot of things and missing crosses.
Chelsea will be relieved that Robert Sanchez’s red card at Old Trafford did not result in a three-match ban.
Even late on, smart Lincoln moves required last-ditch challenges.
Defensively, Chelsea looked stretched and nervous against lower-league opposition, but the main thing is they are through.
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