Estevao shines as Chelsea ease past Bayer Leverkusen | OneFootball

It might only have been their first pre-season friendly ahead of the new campaign, but Chelsea’s win over Bayer Leverkusen offered plenty of encouraging signs.

This was the first game back at Stamford Bridge since the Premier League win over Manchester United on the 16th May.

Since then Chelsea have secured Champions League football, won the Conference League and gone to America and won the Club World Cup. A quiet two and a half months.

There have also been new signings, and one in particular impressed tonight. Brazilian winger Estevao showed Chelsea what he could do in America when the Blues beat Palmeiras 2-1 in the quarter-final of the Club World Cup and the 18-year-old scored and won the man of the match award.

But he expanded on that tonight, scoring Chelsea’s first, a simple finish from two yards after Cole Palmer had attempted a dink over Mark Flekken which rebounded off the post and kindly into his path.

He signed for an initial £30 million fee which could rise to £55 million with add-ons, and in his first game he showed clear signs of why he has been hailed the ‘next Neymar’ in Brazil, and also why he has coined the nickname ‘Messinho’.

He was not shy of confidence in his debut, seeking out the ball at every opportunity, and unafraid to drive at Piero Hincapie.

Estevao attempted seven shots, with only two on target, but it was his intent which impressed. He also seemed to strike up an instant chemistry with Cole Palmer, the two looking for each other constantly.

Joao Pedro sealed the win for Chelsea in the final minute of the game, striking into the bottom left corner of the Leverkusen goal with pinpoint accuracy after a cross into the box from Genesis Antwi.

Joao Pedro’s exceptional finishing was a big talking point during the Club World Cup, and he maintained those standards again.

Elsewhere, the news that Levi Colwill has suffered an ACL injury and will miss most of the season has rocked the Blues, and Enzo Maresca experimented with his line-up tonight, looking for a solution.

Josh Acheampong came in beside Trevoh Chalobah to replace Colwill, and Jorrel Hato came on at half-time, he and Acheampong constantly interchanging positions in the second period.

Colwill had developed into a real leader in this young side last term, and the fact he played double the number of minutes of any other centre-back proved just how important he was to Maresca.

With the Premier League opener against Crystal Palace just over a week away, the timing of this injury was frustrating for the Italian manager to say the least.

Hato can play at centre-back, and his versatility was one of the key things Chelsea liked about him, but it is a tough ask for a 19-year-old to be thrown straight into the Premier League.

There were other debuts for the Blues as Dario Essugo and Jamie Gittens also played their first games in a Chelsea shirt.

A week out from Palace, Chelsea seem in a good position, but the injury to Colwill has been a real spanner in the works.