Chelsea boss says Noni Madueke ‘stopped playing’ after goal in Wolves win

Enzo Maresca said Noni Madueke stopped playing after he scored in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Wolves on Mondy night.

Madueke scored the Blues’ third of the evening when he helped Trevoh Chalobah’s goalbound header over the line in the 64th minute.

The former PSV winger was taken off in the 84th minute for Tyrique George.

Ex-Leicester boss Maresca dropped the England international from the matchday squad for Chelsea’s defeat to Fulham on Boxing Day.

The Blues boss said: “He can improve in the last third, but probably after he scored the goal he stopped playing.

“This has to be one thing we need to improve immediately.

“Never happy if you score one or two – always you have to go for more.

“We just try always to help them to improve. After the goal, he was probably a little bit tired, but it’s the moment we need to go for more.”

The west Londoners moved 10 points behind league leaders Liverpool and back into the top four.

“It was important to win the game,” said Maresca.

“The first half was brilliant. We scored goals and created chances. But the same thing happened, similar to the last four or five games. We created chances but lost confidence.

“We controlled the game in the second half and could have scored more. We’re happy for the three points.

“It’s important to win after five games without a win. It was not easy. We scored first and then they scored, but the reaction was much, much better.”

PICTURE: ALAMY