Chelsea maintained their 100 per cent win record in the Conference League group stages during their long trip to Kazakhstan this week.
The Blues have five wins from five in this season’s Conference League group phase after a 3-1 away victory at Astana on Thursday.
Despite the fact that Enzo Maresca left so many big names back in England to rest, Chelsea strolled to a pretty convincing result against Astana.
Marc Guiu (two) and Renato Veiga were on the scoresheet for the visitors. Joe Cole described Chelsea striker Guiu as “exquisite” during his latest European performance.
Josh Acheampong of Chelsea arrives at the stadium prior to the UEFA Conference League 2024/25 League Phase MD5 match between FC Astana and Chelsea ...
Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Chelsea fans rave about Josh Acheampong display
It was a huge occasion for plenty of Chelsea youngsters against Astana, including Josh Acheampong.
Acheampong, 18, made just his third senior appearance for the Blues, but it was his first-ever start. In fairness, the teenage defender slotted into the XI pretty effortlessly at right-back during the European trip.
Many Chelsea supporters on social media are convinced that Acheampong is good enough to get plenty more minutes in the first-team side.
Here are Blues fans on X that were seriously impressed by the teenager’s performance versus Astana:
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@GGullman wrote: “Josh Acheampong should be used regularly in the Premier League/Cup games. He’s ready for it. Trial by fire. Enzo Maresca needs to show some bravery here and actually put faith into the academy. It can save us money and we’ll also likely end up with better starters…”
@PlinythaElder posted: “Acheampong is ready. This reminded me of the first time I watched Reece James.”
@hj21pl shared: “Acheampong is so good I’m happy I backed this guy from day one. He’s more than ready for Premier League minutes.”
@mlusibiya1 claimed: “Acheampong, you’re ready for the big leagues boy.”
@BSTComps shared: “I wanna see Acheampong starting Prem games now, he doesn’t need “time”. He has been ready since last season.”
Acheampong’s been a big talking point lately because of his contract stand-off, but the good news is he’s back playing football and it sounds like his future is nearly resolved.
Acheampong is close to signing a Chelsea contract extension as the club have changed his mind about staying.
The versatile defender looked comfortable at right-back against Astana, which effectively became a centre-back role in possession as the Blues drifted into a back three. It’ll be interesting to see if can obtain more senior minutes as genuine cover for Malo Gusto while Reece James is unavailable.
Josh Acheampong catches the eye against Astana
Despite not being overly tested against Astana, Acheampong looked extremely comfortable and assured in Chelsea’s first team.
Here is a look at the youngster’s match statistics via FOTMOB:
Match rating Minutes payed Successful dribbles Touches Accurate passes Chances created Tackles won Interceptions
7.9 90 2/2 (100%) 101 76/81 (94%) 1 2/4 (50%) 1
Josh Acheampong’s performance versus Astana
There’s certainly going to much toughest tests to come, particularly in the Premier League, but Acheampong’s introduction to the senior squad could be very timely.
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