Chelsea cruised to an eight-goal win over the Armenian minnows at Stamford Bridge, racing into a 4-0 lead inside 21 minutes through goals from Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Axel Disasi and Joao Felix.
It was six before half-time as Mykhailo Mudryk and Felix’s second extended the lead at the interval, before Christopher Nkunku scored twice after the break.
The win was a record-breaking score in the Europa Conference League and underlined Chelsea’s status as clear favourites for the trophy.
Maresca said he was pleased with the professionalism his side showed amid a ‘tricky’ test against the visitors.
“[It was a] tricky game because everyone expected us to win but you have to be serious, professional and the most important thing is they showed how serious and professional they are,” the Italian said in his post-match interview.
“[I was] very impressed, especially because we are trying to change players every game. It works well. We have good players and we want them to get minutes. Some of them play in the Conference League, some in the Premier League, but all of them want to play every game.”
On what most impressed him about the performance, Maresca said Chelsea showed they are ‘serious’ about success in this competition.
“How professional and how serious we have been tonight. Tonight they showed how serious they are.
“We are in the right direction and now the most important thing is to continue. We have one more game before international break and we can rest some of them over the break.
“I would’ve liked to play with all these attacking boys. But you need defensive balance.”
