Chelsea beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 in a pre-season friendly on Friday, as Estevao Willian and Joao Pedro impressed at Stamford Bridge.
Estevao leaves his mark Making his debut at Stamford Bridge and scoredPedro rounded out victoryFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportTELL ME MORE
Estevao Willian opened the scoring after just 17 minutes, finishing from close-range after Cole Palmer's lobbed effort bounced off the crossbar.
Chelsea dominated territory throughout the first half and looked incredibly comfortable, though Mark Flekken was rarely truly tested. One flashpoint saw Palmer react angrily to a bad tackle from Jarrell Quansah, prompting a short melee, but he shrugged it off.
Leverkusen were simply unable to find a way out of their half in the second period and were camped on the edge of their box.
While Chelsea somewhat struggled for fluency – understandable given the sheer number of changes made throughout the game – they showed some glimpses of what a brutal attacking force they can be, and Pedro, another summer signing, found the net late on to rubber-stamp the win.
The former Brighton attacker took the ball on the edge of the box and fired a low, zipping effort into the bottom corner to a thunderous roar from the Stamford Bridge crowd. He is a fan favourite already.
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It simply has to be Estevao. The Brazilian teenager was making his first start in west London with a global super-club. Did it phase him? Not a bit of it. The wonderkid not only scored what was an admittedly simple finish, he lit up the flank with his fearless running and fleet-footed dribbling. Leverkusen could barely get near him. Chelsea have a real player on their hands, here.
NEW FACES
Estevao, the Brazilian wonderkid, made quite the first impression with his close-range finish and wild, sliding celebration. While Andrey Santos was signed in 2023, he embarked on a series of loans and is now attempting to break into Enzo Maresca's first XI, earning a start here, with headline-grabbing striker signing Liam Delap up front.
Jorrel Hato, on at half-time alongside Dario Essugo, made a superb block shortly after his introduction to deny Patrik Schick.
Just after the hour, Delap was subbed off after another uneventful performance in which he could not properly impact proceedings to be replaced by fellow new signing Pedro. Jamie Gittens also came on for Tyrique George.
But it was Pedro who stole the headlines, netting the second goal of the game in the last minute; he has some real momentum ahead of the new campaign.
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Teenage duo Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George, both 19, started in central defence and on the flank respectively. Acheampong was fortunate to get away with a terrible mistake ten minutes into the second half as he slipped on the ball and allowed Schick in on goal, but his effort was blocked by Hato.
Of course, 18-year-old Estevao found the net with one of his first touches in a blue shirt and enjoyed a stunning performance, somewhat putting his fellow youngsters to shame.
George, by comparison, ran at the defence every chance he got and was perhaps just a little too eager to show his quality as he kept snatching at his efforts.
Genesis Antwi, an 18-year-old defender, came off the bench, as did Aaron Anselmino and Samuel Rak-Sakyi, but they barely had any time to make a significant impression.
