Astana 1-3 Chelsea – Marc Guiu stars as second-string Blues remain perfect in UEFA Conference League

Marc Guiu scored twice as a youthful Chelsea side beat Astana 3-1 in Kazakhstan to extend their perfect record in the UEFA Conference League to five games.

Enzo Maresca rested the majority of his first-team squad for the 16-hour round trip as he handed a host of academy products their senior debuts.

It was 18-year-old summer signing Marc Guiu who opened the scoring for the Blues with a fantastic solo goal after a dynamic run down the visitors’ right.

The Spaniard’s second just four minutes later was slightly less glamorous as he bundled home from close range following some good work from Pedro Neto out wide.

When Renato Veiga headed home Chelsea’s third on the 39-minute mark, things looked ominous for Astana, but that was to be the Blues’ final goal of the game.

The home side’s captain Marin Tomasov then stunned Maresca’s men just before the interval as he cut in onto his left foot and rifled a strike in off the upright to reduce their deficit.

Astana made a better contest of things in the second half as Chelsea looked to add a fourth but the scoreline remained as it was, sending the Blues three points clear at the summit of the standings.

Chelsea all but secured their place in the last 16, depending on results elsewhere this evening, but with a home tie against Shamrock Rovers to conclude the league phase, Maresca will be hoping to top the standings with a sixth victory in six.

As for Astana, they remain in 24th, one place above the elimination zone and will be hoping to secure a spot in the play-offs with a win over APOEL on Matchday 6.

With a 16 hour round trip to play a match in five time zones ahead of the UK and in temperatures of -11C, Maresca would have been grateful for the luxury of being able to leave Chelsea’s key men at home.

The Italian has used Europe’s third-tier competition as a means of rotation this season with the likes of Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia not included whatsoever in Chelsea’s group phase squad.

But the Blues’ four wins from their opening four fixtures meant he could go even further for the trip to Astana as he took only six of the players to feature in the squad during the 4-3 win against Tottenham on the weekend.

Meanwhile, the only player to start both ties was Neto and this was only because of his yellow card in north London which ruled him out of Chelsea’s Premier League tie with Brentford on Sunday.

This allowed Maresca to hand a full debut to highly-rated academy graduate Joshua Acheampong, who had recently been frozen out of all Chelsea teams due to uncertainty over his future, but he impressed with an assured performance in defence.

The Chelsea boss also gave senior debuts to Kiano Dyer, Sam Rak-Sakyi, Ato Ampah and Shumaira Mheuka.

As has been the case all season in Europe, Maresca has been able to strike a perfect balance by resting his key men for the Premier League and handing out valuable minutes to other members of the club, all while maintaining a perfect record.

A quiet second half but Guiu looked really lively in the opening period. It was a superb goal to give Chelsea the lead and a poachers finish for his second. He looked likely to bag a first-half hat-trick but was denied a couple of times and had to settle for a brace.

Astana: Seysen 7; Bartolec 7, Kazukolovas 6, Marochkin 5, Vorogovskiy 6; Amanovic 5, Ebong 6, Kalaica 6; Tomasov 7, Geoffrey 5, Camara 6. Subs: Karimov 5, Osei 6, Gripshi N/A, Astanov N/A.

Chelsea: Jorgensen 6; Acheampong 7, Disasi 6, Tosin 6, Veiga 7; Rak-Sakyi 7, Dewsbury-Hall 7; Neto 7, Chukwuemeka 6, George 7; Guiu 8*. Subs: Vale 6, Ampah 5, Mheuka N/A, Dyer N/A.

14′ – GOAL! ASTANA 0-1 CHELSEA (GUIU): Guiu is fed into the right channel and stands up Marochkin before beating him on the outside. He drives into the box and slots home past Seysen with his right foot at the near post.

19′ – GOAL! ASTANA 0-2 CHELSEA (GUIU): And just like that it is two! Neto picks it up on the right and beats his man on the outside with a burst of pace before squaring the ball across the six-yard box. Seysen gets a touch on it but it rebounds off Guiu who can bundle home from close range.

39′ – GOAL! ASTANA 0-3 CHELSEA (VEIGA): Dewsbury-Hall takes the corner from the right and his inswinging delivery finds the head of Veiga who nods home into the bottom right corner, relatively unchallenged.

45′ – GOAL! ASTANA 1-3 CHELSEA (TOMASOV): Astana make the pressure pay as they get themselves a wonderful goal! The captain Tomasov picks it up in the right of the area and cuts in before firing a powerful left-footed effort off the far left post and in.

Nine of the players Chelsea used this evening were 21 years of age or below.