Enzo Maresca gives blunt two-word response when asked about Noni Madueke’s Chelsea axing

NONI MADUEKE was axed for Chelsea's London derby defeat to Fulham.

Blues boss Enzo Maresca revealed that the England man had been dropped from the squad due to a "technical decision" rather than injury.

Fulham stole their first Stamford Bridge win in 45 years thanks to late goals from Rodrigo Muniz and Harry Wilson, who had cancelled out Cole Palmer's superb opener.

The winger's absence was all the more bizarre given that Maresca had to name two goalkeepers and three academy graduates on the bench to make up the numbers.

Asked about Madueke's absence, the Italian simply said: "Technical decision."

Madueke attended the game and sat with other team-mates not in the squad behind the home dugout.

Maresca has already dropped and publicly criticised Madueke, 22, for his attitude and training level this season.

Speaking after the former PSV Eindhoven man grabbed a goal and an assist at Southampton, having been dropped for the previous game against Aston Villa, Maresca said: "He can do much more.

"The moment he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit and the reason why he was not playing is because I do not like the way he trained.

"He has to understand that he has to train good every day. He has to be ambitious."

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As far back as August, before Madueke had made a Premier League appearance for Maresca, the Blues boss said: “I really like Noni.

"The only problem with him probably is that he has to understand he needs to be consistent during the week; every training, every training, every training.

"But he is a good player and he is doing well with us."

Madeuke arrived from the Netherlands in January 2023 and has 15 goals in 66 Blues games.