Noni Madueke, signed on the eve of Chelsea’s previous game but too late to take part in that match at Anfield, had to wait to make his debut, and the moment came midway through Friday night’s encounter with Fulham. Chelsea was held to a stalemate at full-time.
There was no fixture last weekend and initially, Graham Potter named the north London-born winger on the bench for the west London derby, but he decided to introduce him as a replacement for Mykhailo Mudryk at half-time and with spells on each flank, Madueke showed plenty of positive attacking intent.
‘I’ve had two weeks of training, just getting to know the boys, getting to know the club, and it has been good training sessions,’ the 20-year-old said after the match.
‘And thank God that I made my debut in this game but I’m upset we didn’t get the win. Any young boy wants to play in the Premier League, and at one of the biggest clubs in the world, it is a dream come true. I am thankful and blessed.’
Madueke made his name as a professional in the Netherlands at PSV and having returned to England as one of a clutch of January signings for the Blues, he reflected on whether the 0-0 against Fulham, and the difficulty in scoring, was due more to unfamiliarity in the Chelsea side or the organization in the Whites side that has helped them to seventh place in the table.
‘It is probably a bit of both,’ he decided. ‘Fulham are a very organized team, very physical, and we have a lot of new players and I am sure in time we will know each other’s game more, naturally, but they [Fulham] are a good side, credit to them, they are defensively sharp, they don’t give much away.
Causing problems for the Fulham defense
‘Obviously, we are disappointed,’ he added. ‘We didn’t win the game which is what we set out to do. But there were positives to take from the game so we’ll just work hard going into the West Ham game next week.
‘I thought that we controlled the game, with possession, and we just couldn’t get the decisive goal.’
