Key takeaways for Chelsea after win vs Noah

2. Minutes for Fringe Players

It was refreshing to see Marc Guíu, the 18-year-old Spaniard, start and impress. He scored his first Chelsea goal after intercepting a mistake by Noah's defense and showed excellent ball-winning ability during the buildup to his goal. Tyrique George, 18, made his first start in place of the injured Jadon Sancho, creating four chances while making five recoveries during the match.

Cesare Casadei and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had solid performances after the pair was brought at the beginning of the second half, while Carney Chukwuemeka showed skillful footwork after coming on in the 68th minute. Samuel Rak-Sakyi was another academy graduate who made his mark on Thursday. It was a sweet moment for him after missing a lot of months last season with a long-term injury as he came on in the 79th minute. The 19-year-old almost scored, but his shot just went above the crossbar.

3. Gusto’s Absence and the Center-Back Experiment

Once again, Enzo Maresca opted for a backline without a traditional right back. Since Malo Gusto was substituted at halftime against Manchester United, Maresca had an opportunity to abandon the center-back-at-fullback experiment. However, he chose to continue with it to ensure all three center-backs who played midweek maintained their starting positions.

Based on the results so far in the Conference League, it’s evident that only a handful of teams might pose a challenge to Chelsea as they target the title. The Blues have scored 16 goals in three matches—no other team has even managed half that total.

However, as seen in matches against Gent and Panathinaikos, these teams can still find the net against Chelsea. One of Gent’s goals came from a scenario where several players took up the back post, a space vacated entirely by the backline. A similar opportunity arose late in the match against Noah, too. This vulnerability can be traced back to the use of a center-back at right back. The natural instinct of a center-back is to defend the center of the field, with the right-back covering crosses. But when a center-back is deployed in that role, they tend to move toward the center, creating an overload in the middle and leaving space at the back post.