Chelsea maintained their 100% record in the Conference League as they beat FC Astana 3-1 in Kazakhstan on Thursday night. The result was Astana’s first home defeat in nearly six months- they were on a 13-game unbeaten streak coming into this clash against Enzo Maresca’s side.
With one eye on domestic commitments- Chelsea are second in the Premier League, Maresca opted to give plenty of youngsters and fringe players a hit out. The visitors used nine players aged 21 or younger on the evening, and they passed the test with flying colours.
Young Spaniard Marc Guiu put Chelsea ahead in the 14th minute, toying with Aleksandr Marochkin before producing a nice finish. Guiu also had a hand in the second goal, but it eventually went down as a Marochkin own goal.
Astana’s night went from bad to worse when some non-existent marking allowed Renato Veiga to head home from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner in the 39th minute. The home side pulled one back just before half-time, but were unable to add to their tally after the interval, and Chelsea ran out comfortable winners in the end.
Maresca’s men will now host Brentford in the league this weekend before completing their league phase engagements against Shamrock Rovers next week.
