Enzo Maresca singles out two Chelsea stars after disappointing opening day draw

Enzo Maresca picked out Josh Acheampong and Esteavo for praise despite Chelsea’s stuttering start to the season. The Blues battled to a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea might have felt fortunate to have escaped with a point after Eberechi Eze’s goal was controversially ruled out by referee Darren England. Despite that, Maresca was still satisfied with the performance of a couple of his players.

Young defender Acheampong impressed having been drafted into the starting line-up following Levi Colwill’s long-term injury. Of the academy graduate, Maresca said: “Josh was very good.

“We showed our confidence in Josh last year as he played some games for us. Today he did very well, he dealt with Mateta very well, so overall he had a good game.”

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Meanwhile, the Italian coach also praised Brazilian wideman Estevao, who made his Premier League debut from the bench. The 18-year-old was signed from Palmeiras in May last year for a fee of £29m but has been made to wait to formalise his move to West London.

“Estevao was very good,” Maresca said. “He showed personality and he is already showing that in our training sessions and for no doubt – slowly, slowly – he will become a very important player for this club.”

Chelsea came into their Premier League opener with a very limited pre-season following their commitments at the Club World Cup. But Maresca has refused to blame their lack of preparation time for the draw against Palace.

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He added: “I don't think so, because until the end we compete. We try to win the game. I think we had some chances at the end with Estevao, with Andrey Santos.

“So that showed that probably we compete overall quite good. For sure, they already played, I think, seven, eight games. And for us, last week we played two games, but we tried to share minutes. So the real game for us was today. But for sure, slowly, slowly we're going to be better.”

Chelsea will hope for improvement in their next Premier League game as they travel to West Ham on Friday evening. Before then, a couple more signings could potentially be on the way to Stamford Bridge.

Maresca has requested the signing of a new centre-back in the aftermath of Colwill’s injury, while RB Leipzig star Xavi Simons is also thought to be on the verge of a move to Chelsea.

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