With every result, Enzo Maresca makes Chelsea believe again. Even as his side cruised to victory – their fifth in a row in all competitions – against Ghent, the Italian could be seen prowling the touchline and giving instructions.

At a club where thinking has become increasingly muddled, Maresca’s straightforward approach appears to be paying off. Second-half goals from Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall secured the Belgian side after the impressive Renato Veiga had opened the scoring.

But without the services of Cole Palmer, after Saturday’s four-goal hero was left out of their Conference League squad, Chelsea showed they have many more options and it will be difficult for anyone to avoid being the first become a team that completes the entire set. of European trophies if they decide to take this competition seriously.

Even with 11 changes from their impressive win over Brighton here last Saturday, Maresca were able to name a striker who cost Chelsea £200 million to assemble. According to the website TransferRoom, their team is worth about the same as the other 35 clubs participating in the Conference League this season and they started the group stage as big favorites to progress all the way to the final in Wrocław.

Gent have played in every edition of the tournament since it was introduced by UEFA in 2021 and were beaten in the last eight by West Ham on their way to lifting the trophy a year ago. Wouter Vrancken’s side battled through three qualifying rounds to reach this stage after finishing seventh in the Belgian league and including two players with famous fathers in their starting line-up.

Eidur Gudjohnsen was in the stands to watch his son, 22-year-old striker Andri, take on his former club, while Noah Fadiga – the son of former Bolton and Senegal winger Khalilou Fadiga – tried to support him in attack .

But with Neto and Mykhailo Mudryk in the mood to impress in the absence of Palmer and co, it didn’t take long for Chelsea to take the lead. Neto had already set up a header for Tosin Adarabioyo with a delicate cross, when Mudryk emerged on the same flank and delivered an inch-perfect ball for Veiga to head home at the back post.

Dewsbury-Hall should have doubled the lead when Neto broke free from his marker and put the ball straight into the midfielder’s path, but he shot just wide.

Gent’s first goal came just after the half-hour mark when Archie Brown, a product of Derby’s academy who plays for England Under-20s, saved Filip Jørgensen after a quick break.

But their vociferous support couldn’t believe it when Gudjohnsen fired inches over with a powerful drive that would have left the Chelsea goalkeeper with no chance. Maresca once had some nice words for Mudryk when he gave the ball away cheaply. But the Ukrainian showed his skills when he skipped past Hugo Gambor just before half-time and a big clearance was needed to keep Chelsea at bay.

Barely 30 seconds had passed since the restart when Neto took advantage of a moment of hesitation between Gambor and Watanabe to slot home Chelsea’s second goal after a long ball from captain Axel Disasi. But Ghent hit back immediately when the Japanese defender rose above Benoît Badiashile and headed in Gudjohnsen’s cross, much to the delight of the fans behind Jørgensen’s goal.

Chelsea were forced to go on the attack again and Nkunku made Gent pay for failing to clear a corner when he headed home from the penalty area and the goal was allowed to stand, despite Veiga appearing to have been offside in the build-up.

Fadiga and Gudjohnsen were withdrawn immediately after the goal and it took a block from Badiashile to prevent substitute Max Dean from scoring with his first touch. Dewsbury-Hall put to rest any lingering doubts about the result when he raced onto João Félix’s through ball to score Chelsea’s fourth.

To their credit, Gent continued to attack and a brilliant run from Brown almost saw the 22-year-old pull the ball back late on before substitute Omri Gandelman grabbed a late consolation that did little to dampen the home crowd’s enthusiasm.