It was a very successful night all round for Chelsea as they made it five wins out of five in the Conference League yesterday.
Very few first team stars made the long flight into freezing conditions, leaving the opportunity to the youngsters to play in part.
This didn’t stop Pedro Neto performing at his highest level, and showing that he is a step beyond this competition.
The story instead was about the kids. Enzo Maresca named multiple teenagers in his starting side last night.
Samuel Rak-Sakyi of Chelsea is challenged by Ousmane Camara of Astana during the UEFA Conference League 2024/25 League Phase MD5 match between FC A...
Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Samuel Rak-Sakyi misplaced just one pass for Chelsea vs Astana
Josh Acheampong did a good job of proving himself in his first appearance for the Blues since he was frozen out of all duties a few months ago.
One of those was Samuel Rak-Sakyi, who started in the heart of midfield with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka.
It will perhaps be concerning for the two players who are actually part of the first team that the youngster was easily the best performer of the trio in very tough conditions to pass the ball in.
Rak-Sakyi seemed to have zero problems with that part of the game. In fact, according to FotMob, the youngster completed 87/88 of his passes during yesterday.
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Rak-Sakyi’s new Chelsea contract
Earlier this year it was reported that Rak-Sakyi had signed a two-year deal to help commit his future to Stamford Bridge.
This came after the midfielder actually spent a number of months out of contract following the expiration of his previous deal, however the Blues always stayed in touch.
They will likely be delighted that they did so, with Rak-Sakyi now on a handful of appearances in Europe, which is likely to be added to when they host Shamrock Rovers in this competition next week.
The youngster will be hoping this is just the start of a long run of games for the first team, and completing all but one pass is certainly a promising start.