Chelsea teenagers shine in rout of 10-man Ajax

LONDON — Chelsea took full advantage of an early red card for Ajax captain Kenneth Taylor to thrash the Dutch giant 5-1 in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Enzo Maresca's gamble in making 10 changes paid off, as Marc Guiu and Moises Caicedo struck before Enzo Fernandez and Estevao converted from the penalty spot in the first half.

Tyrique George rounded off the scoring in the second half as, for the first time in Champions League history, three teenagers scored for the same team.

"We trust a lot of young players," said Maresca after the goals for Guiu, Estevao and George. "That is the strategy of the club, but not only the ones that we buy, also the ones from the academy."

Victory made it back-to-back Champions League wins after an opening game defeat at Bayern Munich.

The Blues climb to 11th in the table, while Ajax remains rooted to the bottom of the Champions League standings.

Ajax arrived in London without a point, or even a goal, so far in this season's Champions League.

With Chelsea bearing the brunt of an injury crisis on the back of winning the Club World Cup in July, Maresca clearly targeted the visit of the four-time European champion as a game in which he could afford to rest a number of his key players.

Only Romeo Lavia, who came off at halftime at the City Ground, was retained from the side that won 3-0 at Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

That meant Fernandez, returning from injury, the club's record signing Caicedo and Brazilian wonder-kid Estevao got their chance.

"It's a very demanding season, so we need to rotate, otherwise it's complicated for the ones that play all the games," added Maresca.

Ajax was soundly beaten by Inter Milan and Marseille in its opening two games and saw any hope of an upturn in fortunes disappear once VAR intervened to see Taylor's high challenge on Facundo Buonanotte upgraded from a yellow to a red card on 15 minutes.

Maresca had to face questions on Chelsea's discipline in the prematch news conference, as his side had been issued a red card in four of its last six games.

This time, though, it was Chelsea's turn to enjoy a numerical advantage.

From the freekick resulting from Taylor's dismissal, Guiu turned home Wesley Fofana's header back across the box.

Prior to this season, Caicedo had just three Chelsea goals since his 115 million-pound ($154 million) move from Brighton in 2023, but now has four already this campaign.

The Ecuadorian had some good fortune, as his shot deflected in off Josip Sutalo.

Ajax was briefly offered a lifeline when Tosin Adarabioyo trod on the foot of Raul Moro and Wout Weghorst converted from the penalty spot.

However, there were two more spotkicks before the break to allow Chelsea to kill the game off.

Weghorst was penalized for a trip on Fernandez, who dusted himself off to slot home.

Estevao then fired in the first of what are likely to be many Champions League goals.

The 18-year-old won the penalty and confidently dispatched it high past Remko Pasveer.

Maresca made four more changes to start the second half, with Fernandez and Caicedo among those withdrawn from the action.

George took just three minutes to make his mark off the bench with a precise low finish from Andrey Santos' backheel pass.

AFP