Chelsea steamrolled Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday night, ultimately making light work of the 5–1 game after playing most of it with a man-advantage.
Shortly after Ajax were reduced to 10 players, Marc Guiu handed Chelsea the lead, before Moisés Caicedo’s goalscoring start to the season continued.
A Wout Weghorst penalty threatened to offer the visitors a way back into the game, but two quickfire Chelsea spot-kicks at the other end in the closing stages of the first half effectively killed the contest—converted by Enzo Fernández and Estêvão.
Tyrique George added some gloss with a fifth early in the second half.
Enzo Maresca made 10 changes from the side that beat Nottingham Forest in the Premier League at the weekend, with only Romeo Lavia keeping his place in a heavily reshuffled team. Caicedo was asked to fill at right back, while Guiu was handed his first start since a summer loan move to Sunderland was cut short after a matter of weeks.
With an average age of 22 years, 163 days, it was the second youngest starting XI named by an English club in the Champions League. With Guiu, Estêvão and George all yet to celebrate their 20th birthdays, Chelsea also became the first team in the competition’s history to have three different teenage goalscorers in the same game.
Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Ajax (4-2-3-1)
GK: Filip Jörgensen—6.4: Could he have done better with the Ajax penalty? The ball wasn’t cleanly struck by Weghorst and it passed right underneath the goalkeeper’s hands.
RB: Moisés Caicedo—7.5: If you don’t shoot, you’ll never score. Caicedo is now regularly buying a ticket for that lottery and absolutely reaping the rewards. This was his fourth goal of the season across all competitions, despite lining up in a deeper role.
CB: Wesley Fofana—8.6: Comes away with assist credit for a smart header into Guiu’s path. Comfortable on the ball and watched most of the game played in front of him.
CB Tosin Adarabioyo—6.4: Did little to convince Chelsea fans who are already openly questioning his place at the club on social media. Conceding the penalty was unnecessary and clumsy, while a high challenge on Weghorst could have easily ended in a first-half red card.
LB: Jorrel Hato—7.7: An early opportunity into his Chelsea career to face his former club. Did well in his individual duels, both on the ground and in the air.
DM: Enzo Fernández (c)—7.9: Played 45 minutes and came off with the job done. Played a big part in the Blues breaking the deadlock and scored a goal of his own from the spot.
DM: Romeo Lavia—7.0: Relatively senior at the age of 21. The Belgian completed 48 of 52 passes, delivering eight of those into the final third of the pitch.
RW: Estêvão—8.5: The 18-year-old is Chelsea’s new youngest ever Champions League goalscorer. He converted from the penalty spot after drawing the foul himself
AM: Facundo Buonanotte—7.0: The least effective Chelsea player on the pitch. Lacked creativity in the No. 10 role when the rest of the team was thriving.
LW: Jamie Gittens—8.2: A creative spark on the left flank, creating more chances in the game (5) than anyone else on the pitch. Takes away one assist for playing the final pass to Caicedo.
ST: Marc Guiu—7.5: His youngest goalscorer record was taken by Estêvão 32 minutes after it was set. But this was still an important opportunity that the young Spaniard relished. Might be disappointed to only get one half out of it, having been subbed off at half-time.
Subs not used: Max Merrick (GK), Robert Sánchez (GK), Marc Cucurella, Reece James, Alejandro Garnacho, Pedro Neto, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen.
Ajax (4-2-3-1)
Starting XI: Remko Pasveer; Lucas Rosa, Ko Itakura, Josip Šutalo, Youri Baas; James McConnell, Kenneth Taylor (c); Raúl Moro, Oscar Gloukh, Mika Godts; Wout Weghorst.
Subs used: Jorthy Mokio, Davy Klassen, Youri Regeer, Anton Gaaei, Kian Fitz-Jim.
Player of the Match: Wesley Fofana
Chelsea 5–1 Ajax—How It Unfolded at Stamford Bridge
The game got underway amid heavy rainfall in west London, but with all the changes it wasn’t a smooth start from Maresca’s Blues and chances weren’t free flowing—the first half-sight of goal saw 41-year-old Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasveer raced off his line to reach the ball before Guiu.
Things hugely swung towards the hosts when Ajax skipper Kenneth Taylor was sent off just 17 minutes into the game. The Dutch midfielder was initially only shown a yellow card for dangerously cutting down Facundo Buonanotte. But once VAR intervened, referee Felix Zwayer was advised to take a second look at the pitch-side monitor and changed his mind almost immediately.
Within seconds of restarting the game with the subsequent free-kick, Chelsea took the lead. Fernández’s sweeping ball into the box wasn’t dealt with by Ajax, leaving Guiu to turn in from six yards as Wesley Fofana headed across the face of goal.
After visiting manager John Heitinga made a sacrificial switch, much to the audible annoyance of the travelling fans who started calling for his head, the Blues were then quickly 2–0 up through Caicedo’s fourth goal of a remarkable campaign for him. Joining the attack, it was a speculative drive from distance that took a helpful deflection.
Chelsea should have been cruising at that point, but Tosin’s clumsy foul in the box handed Ajax a lifeline, stepping on Raúl Moro’s foot. Filip Jörgensen couldn’t stop Weghorst’s scuffed penalty. The home defender was yellow carded for his trouble and, moments later, Ajax wanted another when Tosin’s high boot connected with Weghorst’s head—despite the blood, no punishment came.
Having scored, Weghorst soon went from hero to zero, conceding a penalty with a reckless challenge on Fernández. The skipper got up and proceeded to stroke the ball in from 12 yards himself. That was in the 45th minute, then came Chelsea’s second penalty in stoppage time before the interval.
Ajax left back Youri Baas was the guilty party this time, taking a couple of bites at Estêvão. The teenage Brazilian converted to break the record Guiu had set earlier on.
Chelsea returned form half-time, making three changes, and carried on. Immediately, George scored the team’s fifth. There was no luck about the finish, calmly placed beyond Pasveer from the edge of the box. But good fortune had made the chance after Andrey Santos was unable to take the ball in his stride, seeing it drop kindly into George’s path for the first-time strike instead.
Chances for more goals came and went, Romeo Lavia and Estêvão each narrowly missing the target from promising opportunities, while the latter also saw an attempt saved by Pasveer. Into the closing stages and Estêvão was dazzling the crowd, trying out an overhead kick that wasn’t far wide.
Chelsea vs. Ajax Half-Time Stats
Chelsea vs. Ajax Full Time Stats
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Ajax: Young Blues Score Five in Champions League Thrashing.
