Chelsea’s Estevão Makes History In West Ham Rout As Maresca Urges Patience

Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, has praised his young stars after their emphatic 5-1 win over West Ham United on Friday night.

However, he admitted that some of them still need time to adapt to the demands of Premier League football.

The Blues overturned an early setback at the London Stadium, where Lucas Paquetá fired the Hammers ahead with a stunning long-range strike in the ninth minute. The goal, Maresca later revealed, came from a costly mistake by Brazilian teenager Willian Estevão.

“We conceded the goal because of him [Estevão]. He lost the goal in the build-up, so he needs to make mistakes to learn,” the Italian told reporters. “But overall, his performance was very good. That shows how good he is and it is the reason why he is here with us.”

Estevão, just 18, quickly redeemed himself with a historic moment. Drafted into the starting lineup after Cole Palmer pulled up in the warm-up, the winger became the youngest player in Chelsea’s history to provide an assist.

He set up Enzo Fernández for the Blues’ third goal before half-time, after Joao Pedro’s header and Pedro Neto’s strike had already turned the game around.

Chelsea dominated the second half, sealing the win with goals from Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah, both coming from corners.

Maresca, while delighted with the result, urged patience with some of his new arrivals. “Joao Pedro, Liam, Estevão, and Jamie Gittens are all fantastic players. You can see that Liam and probably Joao are a little bit more ahead of the rest, but the reason is that they were already here in England. Jamie needs to adapt a little bit, Estevão needs to adapt, Hato, as well, needs time to adapt,” he explained.