Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has claimed that Noni Madueke "stopped playing" once the winger put his side 3-1 ahead against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night.
The Blues ended a run of five Premier League fixtures without a win as they saw out a morale-boosting victory over the struggling West Midlands outfit at Stamford Bridge.
After Matt Doherty had cancelled out Tosin Adarabioyo's opener, Marc Cucurella and Madueke netted in the second half to secure maximum points for Maresca's side.
Madueke's tap-in from Trevoh Chalobah's goalbound header made it six strikes and three assists from his 20 top-flight appearances for 2024-25.
Nevertheless, speaking at a press conference after the game, Maresca did not shy away from criticising the England international.
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"We need to improve immediately"
Maresca is no stranger to demanding more from the 22-year-old, who has sometimes been dropped to the substitutes' bench or left out of a squad since the Italian's arrival.
Although Madueke arguably remains first choice on the right flank, his Italian boss admitted that he had not been impressed by how Madueke played in the final quarter-of-an-hour before his 84th-minute withdrawal.
As quoted by football.london, Maresca said: "He scored a goal but after he scored the goal he stopped playing. This has to be something that we need to improve immediately, absolutely.
"Never happy if you score one, two, you go for more and I think after he scored the goal he stopped a little bit playing and that is something we need to improve."
He added: "We just try to always help them to improve and after the goal he was also probably a little bit tired, I don't know. But it's the moment that we need to go for more in that moment."
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Is Madueke's place in the side at risk?
With Jadon Sancho generally regarded as Maresca's preferred pick on the left, Madueke finds himself in direct competition with Pedro Neto on the right.
Neto has chipped in with just one goal and two assists in 1073 minutes of Premier League football at Chelsea. Although Neto's mentality has never been questioned by Maresca, his output in the final third has been poor.
That is something that may not necessarily help Madueke going forward, and may be a concern to Maresca who is attempting to drive high standards at their Cobham training facilities.
A trip to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City on Saturday evening is now on Chelsea's agenda, an intriguing decision awaiting Maresca when he will require his wingers to put in a strong defensive shift.
Darren Plant
