Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca has spoken about Estevao Willian’s performance after the youngster stepped into the starting XI in place of the injured Cole Palmer during Friday night Blue’s emphatic 5-1 win over West Ham.
Softfootball reported that Chelsea cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Hammers, with new Brazilian talent stealing the spotlight. Drafted in for his first competitive start after Cole Palmer withdrew injured in the warm-up, the youngster delivered an impressive performance that underlined his exciting potential.
The 18-year-old performance earned him Man of the Match award. He showed no nerves, playing with confidence and maturity well beyond his years, firmly announcing himself as a rising star at Chelsea.
The winger assisted his team’s third goal as they swept past a beleaguered West Ham, receiving a delicate flick from Liam Delap before racing down the right and crossing for Enzo Fernández who tapped home. At 18 years, 120 days, he became the youngest player in Chelsea history to assist a goal in the Premier League.
The display was especially impressive in that it came after he had needlessly given the ball away to gift West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá a goal after five minutes.
Well, one person wasn’t willing to just praise him blindly. When asked for his thoughts on Estevao’s debut, manager Enzo Maresca made sure to point out the one bad moment as seen on Chelsea club website, the flick he tried to pull off which handed the ball to West Ham, the Gaffer said:
‘We conceded a goal because of him, he lost the ball in the build-up, so he needs to make a mistake to learn, but overall the performance was very good.
‘His reaction to that mistake showed how good he is, and the reason why he is here with us.’
Estevao wasn’t the only Brazilian summer signing to impress. João Pedro, who joined from Brighton, headed his first league goal for the club to equalise Paqueta’s early effort.
