ENZO MARESCA will be scratching his head after his Chelsea side survived a Carabao Cup scare.
The Blues scraped in the third round after a shoddy first half.
Chelsea struggled against Lincoln City
Alejandro Garnacho disappointed on his first start for Chelsea
Imps ace Rob Street put the hosts ahead before and put ahead.
But what was supposed to be a was far from it as the champions were pushed to the wire.
The match at Sincil Bank was supposed to after defeats away at and Manchester United.
Garnacho endures trying debut
Much of the pre-match attention centred on , who was handed his first start since a high-profile move from Man United.
It proved to be a rough night for the Argentine against aggressive opposition.
Much was rightly expected from the winger, but we saw very little as he struggled to make an impact.
He tried his luck on both flanks in the first half but was largely booed and kicked, and that was pretty much all we saw from him before he was hooked just before the hour mark.
A night to forget for Garnacho, though he was not alone in underperforming.
George and Buonanotte provide the spark
While plenty of big names failed to deliver, two of the side’s younger players provided the bright spots just after the break.
George, the academy graduate who came so close to joining over the summer, started through the middle and marked the occasion with a fine equaliser, thrashing one in from the edge of the box a couple of minutes into the second half.
George’s inclusion came after Chelsea left Mark Guiu at home, seemingly unaware that the striker was not cup-tied after a rule change this season.
Minutes later, Facundo Buonanotte, on loan from Brighton, scored his first goal for the club to give Chelsea the lead.
Facundo Buonanotte netted his first Chelsea goal
Defensive frailties cause for concern
Perhaps the biggest concern for Maresca will be the performance of his defence, which was all over the place at times.
Despite fielding a strong backline including Fofana and Gusto, they struggled to defend as Lincoln bombarded them with long throws and looping crosses.
Goalkeeper , flapping at a lot of things and missing crosses.
Chelsea will be relieved that did not result in a three-match ban.
Even late on, smart Lincoln moves required last-ditch challenges.
Defensively, Chelsea looked stretched and nervous against lower-league opposition, but the main thing is they are through.
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CHELSEA are through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup after a strong second-half display got them out of jail.
Tyrique George equalised early in the second half after Robert Street had opened the scoring for Lincoln City.
He then set up Facundo Buonanotte to give Chelsea lead in the game.
But it was far from an easy night for the Blues at the Sincil Bank stadium.
