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Enzo Maresca He believes he is lucky to become manager of “special” talent Estevan Willian after the teenager produced his best Chelsea performance in the 5-1 thrashing of 10-man Ajax at Stamford Bridge.
The 18-year-old became the Blues’ youngest Champions League The goalscorer fired a remarkably confident penalty into the top corner to make it 4-1 at half-time, and with his side cruising, he troubled the four-time European champions to further raise the expectations that come with his arrival in west London.
He was one of three teenagers on the scoresheet for Chelsea as Marc Guieu opened the scoring with his first of the season and Tyrick George finished things off with a fifth, while 17-year-old Reggie Walsh was given 25 minutes as a substitute to become the club’s youngest player in this competition.
“Very proud,” said Maresca, who made 10 changes to his line-up for the second of six matches in 21 days. “This is a special night for the club and its young players.
“It’s the club’s strategy. We have a lot of young players. We were the youngest team.” Premier League Same last year, this year also.
“We changed 10 players tonight. It’s not easy to change so many players but we need to do it, otherwise those paying will struggle.”
The star of the show was undoubtedly Estevao.
“With young players, most of the time you’re worried,” Maresca said. “They play one or two games and score and they feel like they’re already a top player. The good thing about Estevao is we don’t have to worry about that.
“He’s very polite and humble, wants to work hard. He’s got a fantastic family who are very close to him. He’s a special player but we don’t have to be worried that he thinks he knows how good he is. He’s a very simple person.
“I feel very fortunate to be their manager. Fans pay tickets to see players like Cole (Palmer) and Estevao.”
dutch The side was atrocious, a shadow of the team that came within seconds of reaching the final of this competition in 2019, as John Heitinga’s side suffered the indignity of becoming the first Ajax team since 1958 to reach the top four in the first half of a European match.
Chelsea were furious after visiting captain Kenneth Taylor was sent off for a serious foul in the 17th minute.
They went ahead through Guiu soon afterwards, before Moises Caicedo’s deflected shot from range made it two.
What followed was the bizarre spectacle of three penalties in 18 frantic minutes, the first by Wout Weghorst – which briefly restored the visitors’ interest in the match – before Enzo Fernández and Estevao responded to make it 4–1 at the break.
Jorge made it five shortly after the restart, after which Estévão troubled Ajax with a wonderful display of attacking creativity, tormenting full-back Youri Bas on the wing and twice going close with overhead kicks that were saved by the goalkeeper.
“We always take it game by game,” Maresca said. “It’s a win but it doesn’t mean much in terms of the season.”