Brazilian youngster Estevao lived up to the hype as he inspired Chelsea to a 2-0 friendly win over Bayer Leverkusen on Friday.
Enzo Maresca's FIFA Club World Cup winners began their truncated pre-season schedule with a deserved victory over the 2023/24 Bundesliga champions at Stamford Bridge.
Estevao was handed a start, and the 18-year-old was a persistent threat from the right flank before he pounced to break the deadlock when Cole Palmer's attempt came back off the crossbar.
Leverkusen's threat was mainly restricted to venomous set-pieces from left wing-back Alex Grimaldo, who also seemed to have little interest in working back in the other direction to try and shackle Estevao.
The Palmeiras product should have doubled the advantage after the hour, leaving his compatriot and fellow summer arrival Joao Pedro to seal victory in the final minute.
Chelsea are back in action against AC Milan on Sunday and begin their Premier League season against FA Cup winner Crystal Palace seven days later
Chelsea vs. Bayer Leverkusen final score
| Score | Goalscorers | |
| Chelsea | 2 | Estevao 18', Joao Pedro 90' |
| Leverkusen | 0 | _ |
Starting lineups:
Chelsea (4-2-3-1, right to left): 12. Filip Jorgensen (GK) — 27. Malo Gusto (24. Reece James), 23. Trevoh Chalobah (4. Tosin Adarabioyo), 34. Josh Acheampong, 3. Marc Cucurella (21. Jorrel Hato) — 25. Moises Caicedo (14. Dario Essugo), 17. Andrey Santos — 41. Estevao (64. Genesis Antwi), 10. Cole Palmer (7. Pedro Neto), 32. Tyrique George (11. Jamie Gittens) — 9. Liam Delap (20. Joao Pedro)
Bayer Leverkusen (3-4-2-1, right to left): 26. Mark Flekken (GK) — 12. Edmond Tapsoba, 4. Jarell Quansah, 3. Piero Hincapie (35. Christian Kofane) — 23. Nathan Tella, 24. Aleix Garcia (39. Jeremiah Mensah), 8. Robert Andrich, 20. Alex Grimaldo — 30. Ibrahim Maza (16. Axel Tape), 21. Amine Adli— 14. Patrik Schick
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Chelsea vs. Bayer Leverkusen goals, highlights
90 mins: Joao Pedro wraps things up, steering across Flekken into the bottom left corner to continue the prolific start to his Chelsea career. Chelsea 2-0 Leverkusen.
76 mins: Estevao makes way to a standing ovation. He's certainly made a favourable first impression. Very keen to see more of him. Chelsea 1-0 Leverkusen.
65 mins: Gittens just on for his own Chelsea bow and immediately links effectively with Estevao. That really should have been 2-0 but the Brazilian wizz kid drags wide. Chelsea 1-0 Leverkusen.
56 mins: Wretched error from Achempong, who treads on the ball and falls over (heartening, in a way, when the pros do that). He's bailed out by his centre-back partner Tosin Adarabioyo, who makes a fine block to thwart Schick. Chelsea 1-0 Leverkusen.
Halftime
Chelsea good value for their lead at the break, with the exciting Estevao living up to his billing.
42 mins: Estevao fancies a second and forces a fine reaction stop from Flekken just a few moments after Leverkusen's dead-ball specialist Grimaldo went close from a 25-yard free-kick. Chelsea 1-0 Leverkusen.
18 mins: Chelsea get the breakthrough and it's a debut goal at Stamford Bridge for Estevao. Cucurella drives a low ball into the box for Palmer, who directs a bouncing ball against the crossbar and the Brazilian teenager snaffles the rebound. Chelsea 1-0 Leverkusen.
Estêvão scores his first goal for Chelsea! 🔵🔥
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7 mins: Some effort to get yourself a yellow card inside the first 10 minutes of a friendly. So, a dubious tip of the cap to Andrich, who lunges in on Santos to earn a caution. Chelsea 0-0 Leverkusen.
Chelsea vs. Bayer Leverkusen lineups, expected starting 11, team news, injuries
New arrivals Willian Estevao, Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato are all set to make their first appearances in Chelsea colours. Joao Pedro and Liam Delap will also step out at Stamford Bridge for the first time following their Club World Cup exploits.
Benoit Badiashile, Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo and Enzo Fernandez all left the United States with injury complaints and only thr latter two have made the bench. Wesley Fofana remains sidelined with his long-term hamstring problem.
Fofana has been joined in the treatment room by Levi Colwill, who suffered an ACL injury in his first injury in his first training session back after the Club World Cup and will miss the majority of this season as a result.
Chelsea lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Jorgensen (GK) — Gusto, Chalobah, Acheampong, Cucurella — Caicedo, Santos — Estevao, Palmer, George — Delap
Injured: Colwill (ACL), Badiashile, Lavia, Fofana (hamstring)
Mark Flekken and Jarell Quansah will be familiar faces to Chelsea fans, having arrived in Leverkusen from Brentford and Liverpool respectively this summer.
Alongside Quansah, USMNT attacker Malik Tillman is Ten Hag's biggest close-season signing at €35 million. However, Tillman is out after suffering a stress injury during training.
Patrik Schick has committed his future to the club by signing a new contract until 2030 and has shared striker duties with Victor Boniface so far during preseason.
Bayer Leverkusen lineup (3-4-2-1, right to left): Flekken (GK) — Tapsoba, Quansah, Hincapie — Tella, Garcia, Andrich, Grimaldo — Maza, Adli— Boniface
Injured: Tillman (leg/foot)
Chelsea vs. Bayer Leverkusen live stream, TV channel
Here's how to watch this preseason friendly match across selected areas of the world's major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | CBS | Paramount+, DAZN |
| Canada | — | DAZN |
| UK | Channel 5 | DAZN |
| Australia | — | — |
| India | — | — |