Chelsea 2-2 Wrexham: Blues held in pre-season friendly as Enzo Maresca debut reveals first major issue

Chelsea scored late to rescue a 2-2 draw in their first pre-season friendly under Enzo Maresca.

Wrexham pushed the Blues all the way in Santa Clara on Wednesday night despite deservedly falling behind to a Christopher Nkunku strike in the first half. Luke Bolton and Jack Marriott took advantage of slack defending to swing the game their way before Lesley Ugochukwu grabbed an equaliser with seven minutes to go.

As the first of six pre-season friendlies, five of which will take place in the USA, Maresca may not have expected such a high-tempo start but it took only two minutes before Levi Colwill flared up at James McClean for a late challenge - prompting an unfriendly pile-on between the two sets of players.

Chelsea were soon the ones who looked in sharper nick though as they moved the ball around positively and with fluidity, as shown by captain Reece James moving into central midfield when in possession. An early free-kick saw the Blues captain rattle the outside of the post.

Set plays proved the most positive route to creating chances and Chelsea led on 38 minutes when a corner was half cleared as far as Tyrique George, the 18-year-old shifting onto his right foot for a shot which hit the crowd of players and landed for Nkunku to fire home.

Romeo Lavia joined James in making his return from injury for the first half and an almost entirely new XI after the break featured Wesley Fofana’s comeback, while Raheem Sterling, Armando Broja and Lucas Bergstrom were among those also coming on.

Sterling tested the Wrexham goalkeeper from a tight angle but the third-tier team levelled against the run of play on 58 minutes. A low cross from the left evaded a number of defenders to reach Bolton for a finish at the far post.

A first major test for Maresca began to show the pre-season lack of organisation about his defence and McClean freely galloped into space from a telegraphed set-piece routine moments later, only to miscue his cutback to a set of waiting attackers.

Wrexham stunned Chelsea on 71 minutes with some sharp pressing to win the ball back and a quick pass sent Marriott through with far too much time and space as he picked out a fine shot into the bottom corner past Bergstrom.

Far from bouncing back to assert their authority, the Premier League team began to cling on with a low stop to deny a second for Marriott before McClean skewed off target from a cross to the far post.

Chelsea mustered a late rally and pulled level via a calm finish from Ugochukwu but Wrexham reached the final whistle for a second consecutive friendly draw against top-flight opposition. Chelsea next head to Notre Dame for a meeting with Celtic on Saturday.