Chelsea 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen: Estevao stars as Blues make winning start to pre-season | OneFootball

Joao Pedro scored with the last kick of the game to secure the Blues’ win

Debutant: Willian Estevao

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Your matchday briefing on Chelsea, featuring team news and expert analysis from Malik Ouzia

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Willian Estevao stole the show as Chelsea opened pre-season with a win on Friday night, beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Despite closing out their Club World Cup campaign less than four weeks prior, the Blues returned to west London with remarkable energy, dominating their German visitors.

Headlines came ahead of kick-off as Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku were left out of the matchday squad as they push for moves away from Chelsea, but it was a new arrival rather than an imminent departure who stole the show.

Estevao, playing his first minutes in Chelsea blue, wasted no time in winning the hearts of the fans in the ground. He marked his debut with a goal after just 17 minutes, tapping home after Cole Palmer’s shot fell into his path after rattling the woodwork.

The match brought with it a surprisingly level of needle, generally unbecoming of a pre-season outing. Palmer came to blows with Jarrell Quansah after the former Liverpool man caught him with a studs-up tackle, winning a yellow card for his troubles. He was one of three booked before half-time.

After Palmer was withdrawn at the break, Estevao assumed far more attacking responsibility, coming off the right flank into a more central role. He continued to dictate the pace of the attack, oozing confidence as he pulled the strings.

Jamie Gittens also came on to make his debut in the second half and looked smart with the ball at his feet, but struggled for end product. So too did Liam Delap, who started as he represented Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for the first time, but could not find the back of the net despite being handed a range of quality chances.

It was a challenging outing for Tyrique George. He required a top performance to upstage any of Chelsea’s incoming wingers, with whom he will compete for minutes this season, but struggled to impress and was hooked after an hour.

Chelsea let off the gas somewhat in the second half, going close in the early stages but ultimately struggling to produce the same threat as they had in the first. Pedro Neto went close with ten minutes left to play, cutting in off the right flank and forcing a good save from former Brentford shot-stopper Mark Flekken, before Pedro fired home to double their advantage in injury time.

His was the last kick of the game, closing out a confidence-boosting result for the Blues.

They will return to action on Sunday, hosting AC Milan at Stamford Bridge before turning attention to a first Premier League outing against Crystal Palace.