Chelsea achieved their first victory under new manager Enzo Maresca with a 2-0 win over Servette in the first leg of their Conference League play-off round on Thursday.
In a challenging first half at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea struggled to break through Servette's defense. The breakthrough came in the 50th minute when Christopher Nkunku scored a penalty, marking his fourth goal for the club.
Noni Madueke extended Chelsea's lead with a goal from an Enzo Fernandez pass, putting them in a favorable position for the second leg.
Swiss side Servette nearly responded late in the game when Tiemoko Ouattara's deflected shot struck the crossbar.
This win comes as a relief for Chelsea following a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in Maresca's debut match at the weekend.
Chelsea, who finished sixth in the Premier League last season under Mauricio Pochettino, are making their return to European competition.
In other Conference League play-off action, Greek side Panathinaikos fell 2-1 to 10-man Lens, with Wesley Said scoring the decisive goal for the Ligue 1 team.
David de Gea, making his debut for Fiorentina, faced a challenging start as the team drew 3-3 at home against Puskas Akademia from Hungary.
Irish club St Patrick's maintained their hopes of reaching the group stage of a European tournament for the first time with a 0-0 draw against Istanbul Basaksehir.
In the Europa League play-offs, Ajax defeated Jagiellonia 4-1 in Poland, with Chuba Akpom netting a hat-trick.
Besiktas squandered a 3-1 lead, drawing 3-3 with Lugano in Switzerland, while Scottish team Hearts lost 1-0 to Viktoria Plzen.
