Youthful Chelsea ease past Astana to stay top of Conference League

Chelsea continued their excellent form with a 3-1 win over Kazakh side FC Astana despite Enzo Maresca ringing the changes for the Conference League clash.

Maresca made 10 changes from the starting XI that beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 on Sunday, with Axel Disasi and Pedro Neto the most experienced players to start the game.

Marc Guiu opened the scoring inside 15 minutes after an excellent solo run from the right-hand side of the artificial pitch before prodding past Mukhamedjan Seysen.

Aleksandr Marochkin then compounded his side’s woes with an own goal shortly afterwards from a powerful Neto cross, before Renato Veiga made it 3-0 with a simple header from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner before half-time.

Astana did grab one back before the break as forward Marin Tomasov showed fine footwork to dribble into the opposition penalty box before picking out the top-left corner of Filip Jørgensen’s net.

Chelsea have now automatically qualified for the round of 16 in the Conference League and sit second in the Premier League, four points behind Liverpool who have a game in hand.