It wasn’t the perfect performance, but Chelsea are now through to the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
At one point in their clash away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Enzo Maresca’s men looked like they were going to run away with it.
Unfortunately, some really sloppy play and defending in the second half let the Old Gold right back into it.
With that said, Chelsea managed to get out of there with the win, and one player in particular showed why he could be another Cole Palmer, and no, it wasn’t Estevao.
Chelsea's standout stars vs Wolves
One Chelsea starter who did his chances of playing more minutes well on Wednesday night was Andrey Santos.
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The Brazilian ace started in the middle of the park and made an instant impact, scoring the opening goal just five minutes in.
It was a well-taken shot from just outside the area, but that wasn’t all he did, as he ended the game with 100% of his tackles won, ten ball recoveries and seven of eight ground duels won.
In short, it was an excellent all-action display from the 21-year-old and just the sort of showing fans were hoping to see from him this season.
One of his teammates who wasn’t quite as impactful, but is still worthy of praise, is Estevao.
The Brazilian wonderkid didn’t make any key passes or complete more than two crosses, but he did score a sensational chip to make it 3-0 in the 41st minute.
Finally, while he didn’t get a goal involvement like his midfield partner, Romeo Lavia, helped to keep things ticking over in the middle of the park for the Blues.
Minutes
61′
Key Passes
1
Touches
67
Accurate Passes
54/59 (92%)
Fouls Won
2
Interceptions
1
Clearances
1
Recoveries
7
Ground Duels (Won)
5 (4)
Aerial Duels (Won)
1 (1)
In his 61 minutes of action, the young Belgian completed 54 of 59 passes, played one key pass, took 67 touches, made seven ball recoveries and won five of six duels.
Perhaps the best thing you can say about the former Southampton gem’s performance is that Wolves scored two of their three goals when he was off the pitch.
With all that said, there was another Chelsea player who stood out above all the others and showed just why he could be another Palmer-type star.
Chelsea's new Palmer-type star
When it comes down to the player who impressed most on Wednesday night, it’s impossible to look past Jamie Gittens, and it’s the summer signing who could be the club’s new Palmer-type star.
Now, it’s important to caveat that this doesn’t mean he will become as good a player as the Blues’ number ten – few players ever will be – but there are some similarities.
For example, both of them have come from Manchester City’s academies, both can play out wide, the former Borussia Dortmund gem is almost certainly going to be involved in the senior England setup at some point, and, crucially, Gittens is capable of the incredible.
Yes, the 21-year-old has indeed underwhelmed so far this season, but against Wolves, he showed that he has it in him to utterly dominate an opposition and drag his side to victory.
For example, he provided the assist for Santos to open the scoring, and then, just ten minutes later, he did even better, setting up Tyrique George with a tap-in he simply couldn’t miss.
Then, if that wasn’t enough, the Reading-born monster made sure his side didn’t throw the game away by scoring an absolute screamer to make it 4-2 in the 90th minute.
It was the sort of goal you’d expect a player of Palmer’s calibre to score, and perhaps an indication that the Blues might have another superstar on their hands.
Overall, it really was, as one content creator put it, a “masterclass” of a performance from Gittens, and one that should see him remain in the team for the next few games.
