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By KIERAN GILL Published: 04: 39 AEST, 11 April 2025 | Updated: 07: 08 AEST, 11 April 2025 23 View comments When shooting towards a snarling wall of Legia Warsaw ultras exuding intimidation in their thousands, it helps having a fearless 19-year-old from the academy willing to show the ballsy side to his character. Not only did Tyrique George demonstrate poacher’s instincts to score his first senior goal for Chelsea, he then celebrated in front of those flare-wielding fans with a knee slide in the corner, having sent his club towards the semi-finals of the Conference League. That 49th-minute opener was needed as Enzo Maresca’s side had struggled to break down the low block of Legia before then. A half-time substitute in Noni Madueke then added two goals which effectively ended this tie, each set up by Jadon Sancho. Chelsea will take this lead back to Stamford Bridge for next week’s second leg, which should be a formality with this lead. It will be another chance for George to impress, and also Josh Acheampong, the 18-year-old defender from the Cobham conveyor belt who started here. Legia may have brought the flares, but in George and Acheampong, it was Chelsea who had the fireworks. ‘I’m very happy, first of all for the Chelsea academy, ’ Maresca said.   ‘The one that I fell in love with tonight is Acheampong because for me, potentially he can be fantastic player. A good player shows you that he can play in different positions. He was a full back – good. He was a midfielder – good. He was a central defender – good. I fell in love. ’ Academy star Tyrique George opened the scoring on the night with his first senior goal George tucked home a rebound from close range to break the deadlock in Warsaw Noni Madueke came off the bench to score twice and put the Blues in firm control of the tie Madueke celebrates after scoring his second goal of the Europa Conference League clash Maresca knew this would be a test of his young team’s character. He did not go full Mikel Arteta by blasting crowd noise into training sessions, but he did arm his players with footage showing the atmosphere which would be awaiting them. He did not want his starlets surprised by the bear pit they were walking into, with Legia’s ultras called the Teddy Boys 95. Chelsea’s hostile welcome started with the home fans unfurling a banner the size of the stand behind the goal. It showed a spartan sticking a sword through the face of a lion. As graphics go, this one was particularly gruesome, the blood depicted matching the red flares surrounding it. On the pitch, Christopher Nkunku was given another chance by Maresca, having been hooked after 45 minutes of nothingness in Saturday’s Premier League stalemate at Brentford. In the 15th minute, Cole Palmer led a counter-attack. He passed to Nkunku, and that was where the attack died a death as the Frenchman dragged his attempt well wide. Maresca showed his frustration in the technical area and in the 25th minute, he feared a Legia opener when Maxi Oyedele, the 20-year-old Englishman who played 12 National League games on loan at Altrincham two seasons ago, played in Ryoya Morishita. The Japanese winger tried to curl into the corner but got his angles wrong. After 34 minutes came Chelsea’s greatest chance of the first half as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall curled one from 18 yards, but the fingertips of Legia goalkeeper Kacper Tobiasz denied him. For the second half, Maresca brought on Levi Colwill and Madueke for Tosin Adarabioyo and Palmer, a pre-planned substitution which saw George move from the wing into a central position. In the 49th minute, the teenager gave them the lead as he pounced on a rebound from Reece James’ 20-yard blast. Chelsea scored again when Tobiasz’s clearance was poor after 56 minutes. Sancho slid a pass into Madueke, whose reverse finish fooled Legia’s goalkeeper. Madueke netted his side's second goal from close range shortly after entering the game Jadon Sancho (left) assisted both of Madueke's goals on a comfortable night for the Blues Enzo Maresca's men were met with a fiery reception as the ultras set off flares in the stands The match got underway with smoke in the Legia Warsaw's colours filling the Polish ground  LEGIA WARSAW (5-4-1): Tobiasz,  Kapuadi, Augustyniak (c), Pankov, Vinagre, Wszołek (Kun 53), Luquinhas (Pekhart 75),  Elitim (Gonçalves 75),  Oyedele (Szczepaniak 82),  Chodyna (Bichakhchyan 83),  Morishita Subs not used: Mendes-Dudzinzski, Barcia, Mozie, Olewinski, Kovacevic Booked: none  CHELSEA: (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen,  Gusto (Amougou 75),  Badiashile, Adarabioyo (Colwill 46),  Acheampong, James (Cucurella 58,  Dewsbury-Hall, George (Mheuka 75),  Palmer, (Madueke 46),  Sancho, Nkunku Subs not used: Sanchez, Neto, Fernandez, Jackson, Chalobah, Caicedo, Rak-Sakyi Goals: George 49, Madueke 57, 74  Booked:  none  Referee:  Serdar Gozubuyuk   In the 71st minute, Chelsea were awarded a penalty when Nkunku dropped down in the box followed by Dewsbury-Hall.   You could take your pick for which foul you fancied. Nkunku took it, but Tobiasz made a simple save by diving the correct way. While Legia’s fans were celebrating that save, however, Chelsea made it 3-0 as Sancho secured his second assist of the night by setting up Madueke for his brace. There were 25 seconds between Nkunku’s miss and Madueke’s finish, with Filip Jorgensen denying Patryk Kun to retain the three-goal advantage.

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