Liam Rosenquist took charge of Chelsea for the first time, stepping into the dugout amid a mix of nostalgia and curiosity from the fans. South London supporters were singing the praises of former owner Roman Abramovich. Still, co-owner Behdad Eghbali and the new manager faced the reality of needing to win over the crowd.
Chelsea delivered a statement performance in the third round of the FA Cup, dismantling Charlton Athletic 5-1 at The Valley. Although Miles Lewburn reduced the deficit to 2-1 for Charlton, the Blues maintained control throughout the match.
Chelsea Rising Stars Shine in Rosenquist’s First Game
Three players who had rarely featured under former manager Enzo Maresca – Jorel Hato, Tassin Adarabio, and Marc Gueye – found the net. Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez added late goals, with Fernandez converting a penalty in injury time to seal the emphatic victory.
Rosenquist reflected on the game, saying:
“𝑨 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕. 𝑰’𝒎 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕.”
This victory marks the first time in nearly a decade that a new Chelsea manager has won their opening match – the last being Antonio Conte in 2016.
Looking ahead, Rosenquist’s Chelsea will face Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final next Wednesday, before kicking off their Premier League campaign against Brentford at Stamford Bridge.
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