Estevao Dazzles in Dream Chelsea Debut as Blues Crush Leverkusen 2-0
Just 26 days after claiming victory in the FIFA Club World Cup final, Chelsea made their return to Stamford Bridge as newly crowned world champions to take on Erik ten Hag's Bayer Leverkusen.
Estêvão received his first start after finally joining the squad following a year-long anticipation and showed promise operating down the right wing from the opening whistle. Within 18 minutes, the Brazilian took advantage of confusion inside the Leverkusen penalty area to net his debut goal for the club. The Blues controlled the superior opportunities throughout the opening period, maintaining possession while seeking to exploit counter-attacking situations. Leverkusen managed a few half-opportunities, but the Blues appeared to seamlessly continue their momentum from the Club World Cup triumph.
Flekken made an impressive save to stop Estêvão in the closing stages of the first half as the Brazilian continued to be the most dynamic and threatening player over the 45-minute period.
Maresca introduced additional debutants during the match with Jorrel Hato replacing Marc Cucurella at left-back. Estêvão drifted into more central areas while Pedro Neto entered for Cole Palmer, providing Ten Hag with another tactical consideration. Jamie Gittens entered as a second-half substitute, with the former Borussia Dortmund player almost setting up Estêvão immediately upon his introduction.
João Pedro completed the scoring with a strike in the 90th minute to secure the win. A moment that both the Brazilian and supporters in attendance savored given his excellent displays in the previously mentioned summer competition.
Overall, a commendable performance from Chelsea. The Blues would have liked to be more decisive with the numerous scoring opportunities they generated, but they will have another chance to improve with a quick turnaround against AC Milan in their final preseason encounter on Sunday.
In contrast to other Club World Cup participants, Chelsea will complete two preseason friendlies before beginning their domestic season.
Chelsea player evaluations from the friendly match below.
Chelsea Player Evaluations vs. Leverkusen (4-2-3-1)
Ratings Provided by FotMob
Position / Player | Ratings (Out of 10) |
|---|---|
GK: Filip Jörgensen | 7.8 |
RB: Malo Gusto | 7.1 |
CB: Trevoh Chalobah | 6.8 |
CB: Josh Acheampong | 7.3 |
LB: Marc Cucurella | 7.3 |
DM: Moisés Caicedo | 6.8 |
DM: Andrey Santos | 6.6 |
AM: Cole Palmer | 7.3 |
RW: Estêvão | 8.3 |
ST: Liam Delap | 6.4 |
LW: Tyrique George | 6.7 |
SUB: Pedro Neto (46' for Palmer) | 6.7 |
SUB: Dario Essugo (46' for Caicedo) | 7 |
SUB: Jorrel Hato (46' for Cucurella) | 6.6 |
SUB: Tosin Adarabioyo (46' for Chalobah) | 6.5 |
SUB: João Pedro (64' for Delap) | 7.5 |
SUB: Jamie Gittens (64' for George) | 6.6 |
SUB: Reece James (64' for Gusto) | 6.4 |
SUB: Sam Rak-Sakyi (76' for Santos) | 6.1 |
SUB: Genesis Antwi (76' for Estêvão) | 6.2 |
SUB: Aaron Anselmino (76' for Acheampong) | 6.1 |
Player of the Match: Estêvão