Chelsea had very few issues making it five wins out of five in the Conference League this afternoon with a win over Astana.
Enzo Maresca and his players were braving the freezing temperatures in Kazakhstan, however came out the traps fast and made sure they killed the game before it even ended.
Marc Guiu helped himself to two early goals, while Renato Veiga scored his second goal for Chelsea with a free header.
Given the long-haul flight and the fact the Blues find themselves in a Premier League title race, very few first team stars even made the trip across the continent.
Pedro Neto finds Conference League too easy
One player who did start though was Pedro Neto. The winger is suspended for the game against Brentford after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.
He has impressed greatly since making the move to Wolves over the summer. Maresca recently described Neto as ‘fantastic’.
The winger’s pure pace and ability on the ball created the second goal of the evening, and in his 45 minutes on the pitch he looked a cut above any player for either side.
Half-time saw his game come to an end, with him being replaced by 18-year-old Ato Ampah for his senior debut.
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Neto proved though that the Conference League is now too easy for him, and he is good enough to be featuring in the big games for the Blues.
Pedro Neto stats vs Astana
Neto created four chances in the first half this evening, and no doubt proved that he should remain in the manager’s thinking when it comes to the bigger games.
Pedro Neto vs Astana Total
Minutes 45
Assists 1
Chances created 4
Succesful passes 25/27
Shots 2
Maresca seems to have enjoyed the wide pairing of Neto and Jadon Sancho working together as of late. They have started two of the last three Premier League games together.
With Sancho doing a lot of his good work creatively, it gives the Portuguese star the licence to run hard at defenders, creating chances in that way.
With his absence on Sunday, it is likely Noni Madueke is handed another chance to impress against Brentford.
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