- Chelsea beat Leicester 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon
- Join Mail+ for more exclusive scoops, in-depth reporting and analysis from inside the Chelsea camp
At the risk of reciting a rubbish Craig David remake, Enzo Fernandez’s build-up to chilling on Sunday was an enervating one worth recounting, given its grand conclusion with Chelsea.
It started at La Bombonera, the home of Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires, at 12.01am UK time on Wednesday when Fernandez started for Argentina in their World Cup qualifying win over Peru, completing the full 90 minutes with the final whistle being blown at 1.57am.
After that 1-0 victory believed to be confirmed in front of family, including his children Olivia and Benjamin, and friends, such as his representative Uriel Perez, came the journey home to London which lasted nearly 7,000 miles and 15 hours as night was falling in the capital upon his landing.
By 1.30pm on Thursday, Fernandez was back at Cobham to train with Chelsea, arriving carrying a cup of the South American favourite mate and two pairs of Nike Phantoms, ready for work as Nicolas Jackson and Moises Caicedo were the first team-mates he greeted affectionally.
The same routine was repeated except slightly earlier on Friday as they then boarded the team bus travelling to Leicester.
Chelsea arrived at the King Power Stadium from their hotel at 11.03am on Saturday with two buses, one carrying the squad, the other their coaching staff including Enzo Maresca who waved at his former fans gathered by the entrance.
Enzo Fernandez scored Chelsea’s second goal in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Leicester
Fernandez started in Argentina’s win over Peru at the Bombonera on Wednesday
Fernandez was among the first to disembark as captain for the day in light of Reece James’s hamstring injury. Come 12.30pm, the £106.8million man was lining up alongside Caicedo in midfield, his first start in the Premier League since early October.
He was preferred to Romeo Lavia, for good reason on this occasion as Fernandez assisted Jackson for Chelsea’s first, scored their second, and ran 11.6km after another full 90 – the greatest distance covered by a player in a match under Maresca this season.
If the 23-year-old wants to start over Lavia, commitment such as this cannot hurt his chances. Nor does it set the worst example when he is wearing the armband after a summer in which he sparked controversy with the video from the Copa America celebrations.
Fast forward three months from when that shadow was cast over Chelsea’s sunny tour of the United States, Fernandez’s name was being chanted by supporters at full-time on Saturday, with the away contingent treated to a glimpse of why he cost so much money from Benfica in January 2023.
Leicester boss Steve Cooper spent most of his post-match press conferences complaining about the refereeing team led by Andy Madley, perhaps conveniently ignoring how his own player Wilfred Ndidi could have been red carded for an ugly challenge on Cole Palmer.
Really, Maresca had Cooper’s number tactically, despite Chelsea being forced into changes via injury and illness. Marc Cucurella practically played as a left winger instead of a left back, which allowed Joao Felix to move inside into his preferred central position, near Palmer.
Levi Colwill was used as a right-sided centre back for the first time this season rather than left-sided which meant, when Cucurella departed the defence, he was manning the three shuffling across.
Fernandez scored the crucial goal after playing a bench role for the last four league games
That was despite Colwill being unwell and even collapsing in a heap at full-time as staff rushed to his aid. The 21-year-old Englishman had Benoit Badiashile – impressive in his first Premier League start of the season – on his left and Wesley Fofana – a centre back – filling in at right back with James and Malo Gusto both sidelined.
Noni Madueke helped defensively as he dropped so deep that Chelsea formed a back five when Leicester had lengthy spells of possession, rare though they were.
And then there was Fernandez, selected with Lavia having only recently returned from a hamstring issue.
His attacking instincts benefitted Chelsea greatly to give Maresca food for thought with German side Heidenheim in the Conference League this Thursday followed by Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. Yet another relentless week, as Craig David can relate.
