Estêvão‘s Impact Off the Bench Ignites Chelsea‘s Comeback Against Wolves
LONDON – Enzo Maresca highlighted the influence of 18-year-old winger Estêvão as a key factor in Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, despite the Brazilian’s limited playing time as he adjusts to English football. Chelsea’s comeback, fueled by two second-half goals, moved them to the top of the Premier League scoring charts with 21 goals in 11 games.
Estêvão, who joined Chelsea from Brazil in the summer, has largely been limited to substitute appearances. Maresca revealed this week that the young player had expressed discomfort with the cold London weather, a challenge the manager anticipates will persist.However, even while warming up, Estêvão’s presence demonstrably energized the home crowd and shifted the momentum of a match where Chelsea initially appeared to be struggling.
“You can see his talent,” Maresca said. “we are trying to help him to adapt and give him the right minutes. He arrived from Brazil, he needs time to adapt, but he’s going to start games for us in the future.”
The win also saw contributions from Alejandro Garnacho, who set up two of Chelsea’s goals. Maresca noted Garnacho’s initial lack of match fitness following his transfer from Manchester United, stating, “He arrived from a club where he was not training 100 percent so his physical condition was not good. Slowly now he is better. He knows that to play with us he needs to be good on the ball and off the ball or else he’s not going to play. We are very happy with him.”
Despite the defeat, Wolves caretaker manager James Collins emphasized the team’s unity and resilience, despite being eight points from safety. “The boys are together and are working hard,” Collins said.”There’s not little cliques, they’re very, very together. There’s work to do, we’ve got to improve. There’s a lot of games left. Our season is not going to be defined by Chelsea away.”
