Brazilian teenager’s goal in win against Barcelona was a classic and the winger could end up as one of the very best
Everything Lamine Yamal does oozes quality. Even when he is strolling about looking dejected, which he did quite a bit at Stamford Bridge, he does it with the nonchalant grace of a star. He caresses the ball rather than kicking it, generating remarkable power from limited back-lift. He plays on the balls of his feet, always alert, always able to go either way. He glides rather than runs, but does so at speed. He has already finished as runner-up in the Ballon d’Or. But he was not the best 18-year-old right-sided forward on the pitch on Tuesday, not even close.
In Estêvão, brought in from Palmeiras for a fee that could rise to £52m, Chelsea have recruited a player who could end up as one of the very best. He has been making more and more of an impression since scoring the late winner against Liverpool last month. His last four starts for Chelsea have brought four goals, and he also scored in both of Brazil’s friendlies during the international break. It’s very early, but Brazil may at last have found the player they desperately wanted to have found in Neymar.
Estevão’s goal, scored after 55 minutes to absolutely seal a win that hadn’t really been in doubt from the moment the Barcelona captain Ronald Araújo was sent off just before half-time, was a classic. In part, it was about Chelsea winning the ball back and Reece James’s pass, but mainly it was about the Brazilian scurrying at terrifying speed, feinting left and right, brushing off Alejandro Balde and Pau Cubarsí and lashing a shot high past Joan García.
