Chelsea youngster Estevao Willian broke a Blues Premier League record with his maiden top-flight assist in Friday's 5-1 thrashingof London rivals West Ham United.
The 18-year-old was due to start on the bench at the London Stadium, where Enzo Maresca initially selected Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and Pedro Neto as his attacking quartet.
However, the influential Palmer was ruled out shortly before kickoff after suffering an injury in the warm-up, and Estevao was promoted to the first XI in place of the England international.
The South American was culpable for Lucas Paqueta's stunning opener as he lost possession close to the halfway line, but Maresca's men responded in emphatic fashion, as Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto propelled the visitors ahead.
The Club World Cup winners struck their third before half time thanks in no small part to Estevao, who surged to the byline inside the penalty area and squared for Enzo Fernandez to tap home from a couple of yards out.
Estevao sets new Chelsea assist record in West Ham triumph
Estevao of Chelsea celebrates after scoring on August 8, 2025
In doing so, the Brazilian starlet became the youngest player to ever register an assist for Chelsea in the Premier League at just 18 years and 120 days old.
Estevao also put in three tackles and completed two of his three dribble attempts during a strong 77-minute cameo, before being replaced by fellow new arrival Jamie Bynoe-Gittens for the dying embers.
By that stage, Chelsea had capitalised on West Ham's set-piece frailties twice more, as Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah both took advantage of the Irons' weaknesses from corners to seal a 5-1 victory for the Conference League champions.
With four points to show from their opening two fixtures - having played out a goalless stalemate with Crystal Palace in the opening matchweek - Chelsea now top the Premier League rankings, albeit potentially only for a few hours before Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City meet on Saturday lunchtime.
Maresca gives Estevao verdict after Chelsea assist record
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca pictured on August 22, 2025
Maresca opted to promote Estevao to the first XI ahead of Gittens following Palmer's blow, and the Brazilian justified his manager's selection, even if he had to cop some of the blame for Paqueta's opening goal.
The Chelsea boss highlighted the latter fact in his post-game press conference but nevertheless hailed his overall display, telling reporters: "We conceded the goal because of him.
"He lost the ball in the build-up, so he needs to make mistakes to learn. But overall, the performance was very good. [He] showed how good he is and the reason why he's here with us."
Maresca also delivered an update on Palmer's fitness after his side's opening Premier League win of the season, and the Blues now have a full week to recover before hosting Fulham in a third successive London derby next Saturday.
In the meantime, Chelsea's transfer chiefs will continue working on deals for RB Leipzig's Xavi Simons and Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho, but they have supposedly ruled out selling a 21-year-old to the Red Devils during talks for the latter.
ID:579890:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect5322:
No Data Analysis info