Key stats
- Reggie Walsh became the youngest ever UEFA Champions League player for Chelsea (17 years, two days) and second youngest Englishman ever, behind Jack Wilshere (16 years, 329 days)
- Ajax conceded four goals in the first half of a major European match for the first time since February 1958 against Vasas in the European Cup
- Jamie Gittens is the youngest Chelsea player on record (since 2003-04) to create five chances in a UEFA Champions League match (21 years, 75 days). Eden Hazard was the previous youngest, aged 21 years and 256 days vs Juventus in September 2012
Highlights
Analysis
Chelsea quickly found their rhythm and among all the stand-out performances, Enzo Fernandez was awarded the highest Flashscore rating of 9.8 with midfielder Estêvão behind on 8.3.
Match report
After losing their opening two league phase games, Ajax already knew they would have their work cut out to leave Stamford Bridge with a positive result.
With that in mind, under-pressure boss John Heitinga could certainly have done without an early red card, which was shown in Kenneth Taylor’s direction for a reckless challenge on Facundo Buonanotte.
The hosts took full advantage of the subsequent free-kick to compound Ajax’s miserable start, working the angle to send a deep cross into Wesley Fofana, who headed the ball back across the box for Guiu to guide home his first Champions League goal for Chelsea.
Moisés Caicedo then added a second to stamp Chelsea’s authority on the contest, with his long-range effort taking a wicked deflection to wrong-foot veteran goalkeeper Remko Pasveer.
Ajax’s brightest moment of a disastrous first period arrived in the 33rd minute when Wout Weghorst squeezed a penalty under Filip Jörgensen after Tosin Adarabioyo trod on Raúl Moro’s foot.
However, Weghorst quickly undid his own positive work as he clumsily slid in on Enzo Fernández to gift the Blues the chance to restore their two-goal cushion. The Chelsea skipper calmly dispatched the resulting spot-kick, before Estêvão took over penalty duties in first-half stoppage time to fire home his first UCL goal after drawing the foul from Youri Baas with his trickery.
With the three points effectively secure, Enzo Maresca took the opportunity to make a triple change at the break, introducing Trevoh Chalobah, Andrey Santos and George.
The latter required just three minutes to make an impression on the one-sided contest, pouncing on a loose ball just inside the box to slot a first-time shot past Pasveer with the aid of a deflection.
More history was made on a perfect night for the Premier League side when Reggie Walsh was introduced to become the youngest player to represent Chelsea in UCL.
Walsh and his teammates cruised through the remainder of the contest to see out a statement win that moves Chelsea up to 11th, while Ajax remain rooted to the bottom of the standings without a point to their name.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Estêvão (Chelsea)
Post-match reaction
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca told TNT Sports: "The red card changed the game. When we conceded a red card we know how difficult it is. In any case we started well. With 10 changes, it is a demanding season so we need to rotate.
"When you concede a red card with more than one hour to play it is difficult to play."
On Estevao, he added: "It's exciting to see him. The good thing about Estevao, sometimes with young players you are worried because after one game playing well and they think they are top.
"But Estevao is polite, humble and wants to learn. His family did a job there. We are happy in the way he performs but also because he is a nice boy, a good boy."