Former Barcelona youngster Marc Guiu caught the eye as he helped fire Chelsea into the knockout stage of the Uefa Conference League with victory
Former Barcelona youngster Marc Guiu caught the eye as he helped fire Chelsea into the knockout stage of the Uefa Conference League with victory against Astana in Kazakhstan.
The Blues had made the 3,600-mile trip to Almaty for the game, which was played in difficult conditions including temperatures of -11C.
But it did not stop the much-changed Chelsea line-up from securing a comfortable win, getting the job done with three first-half goals.
Spanish youth international Guiu, 18, was one of a number of youngsters given the chance to impress and he did just that by opening the scoring in the 14th minute, embarking on an impressive solo run before slotting in.
His shot four minutes later from Pedro Neto’s cross was then helped over the line by Aleksandr Marochkin to put the Blues in control.
Renato Veiga added a third shortly before the break with a header for his second goal of the season.
Marin Tomasov produced a moment of magic on the stroke of half-time to send the Astana fans wild, cutting inside before smashing an unstoppable strike into the top corner.
The tempo dropped in the second half, with Chelsea managing the game rather than pushing for more goals.
The win means they remain top in the league phase of the Conference League with 15 points from five games.
They will conclude this stage of the competition against Irish side Shamrock Rovers on 19 December.