Chelsea created a unique piece of Premier League history as they returned to winning aways against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The Blues ground out a hard fought 2-1 win to move up to fifth in the table and are now just a point behind Arsenal in third.
Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring with his sixth goal of the season, but it was Cole Palmer’s pass in the build-up which stole the headlines ,before Alexander Isak equalised with Palmer then firing home the winner early in the second half.
Chelsea create unique piece of Premier League history
The Blues showed grit and determination to withstand some heavy pressure from the Magpies to ensure they went home with a much needed three points and just a second home win of the season.
A lot has been made of Chelsea’s expensively assembled young squad having a lack of leadership, and Maresca said in the build-up to the game the club lacked any proper leaders.
However, on the pitch Maresca has got them playing well and the players are stepping up to the task and are showing new levels of maturity.
A lot has been made of Chelsea’s recruitment policy and the club have been heavily criticised, but it’s starting to look like there was method to the so called madness and they are now beginning to reap some rewards.
As per Sky Sports the Blues created a unique piece of Premier League history as they became the first side not to use a player aged 28 or older in their first eight games of the season.
It’s some achievement when you think about it and the average age of the starting eleven so far this season is 23 years and 220 days.
Other clubs are now starting to follow suit in terms of Chelsea’s recruitment with teams targeting younger talent and offering players long term contracts.
It remains to be seen what this young squad are capable of achieving, but they are certainly on the right track and it feels like it’s only a matter of time before Chelsea taste success again, which will hopefully be this season.
