Chelsea find promise in Josh Acheampong and Estevao after opening draw to Crystal Palace
Chelsea may have started their Premier League season with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace, but there were silver linings thanks to the performances of two young players.
With Levi Colwill sidelined by an ACL injury and Tosin Adarabioyo ruled out late in training, Maresca had to trust his defence to step up.
Acheampong earns praise in starting role
Maresca rewarded academy graduate Josh Acheampong with a start alongside Trevoh Chalobah.
Though just 19 and facing the physical presence of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Acheampong had a strong physical presence himself and made great tackles, particularly in the first half.
As quoted by Chelsea, Maresca praised him: “Josh [Acheampong] was very good. We showed our confidence in Josh last year as he played some games for us. Today he did very well, he dealt with Mateta very well, so overall he had a good game.’
Estevao shows promise on Premier League debut
Estevao Willian, who arrived from Brazil’s Palmeiras after the Club World Cup and featured in Chelsea’s two-game pre-season campaign, made his Premier League debut after coming on for Jamie Gittens.
He immediately made a mark, delivering a well-tested cross and bringing fresh energy.
Though he couldn’t directly impact the scoresheet, Estevao gave a glimpse into the kind of player he could be for Chelsea over time.
Maresca was full of praise for the young Brazilian: “Estevao was very good. He showed personality and he is already showing that in our training sessions and for no doubt - slowly, slowly - he will become a very important player for this club.”
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Sanchez highlights depth after defensive setbacks
Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, meanwhile, offered a balanced view on the game - especially the clean sheet.
With key defenders unavailable, he was heartened by the squad’s depth: “We had a couple of weeks of pretty intense pre-season training and unluckily we got a couple of injuries to very important players for us,” he said.
“But I think the boys that have come into the team have shown up. Everybody is ready to play in this team, everybody has the quality, and we kept the clean sheet.”
Sanchez also addressed the challenge of playing out from the back given Palace’s compact midfield:
“We’ve got quality on the ball and Palace hold behind, in the midfield. So to play out was not difficult, from my view, but to find Moises [Caicedo] and Enzo [Fernandez] in midfield was hard, so we had to play a bit more wide.
“But I think the boys did what they had to do, they created the chances, and with different margins we could have scored one or two goals.”
In truth, a goalless draw is never ideal. But Maresca’s optimism about his young players, and Sanchez’s confidence in the team’s depth, suggest there is groundwork here for growth.
As Chelsea look ahead, they can take comfort knowing that even amid absences and a sluggish performance in front of goal, there are promising signs from within - and from the bench.
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