Chelsea became the first team in Champions League history to have three teenage scorers as they secured a 5-1 win over a woeful Ajax side at Stamford Bridge.
The game was put to bed during a frantic opening period that saw a red card, three penalties and five goals, though it was the Blues who eased to victory.
Ajax were a man down after just 17 minutes when captain Kenneth Taylor lunged into a challenge with Facundo Buonanotte, with the initial yellow card upgraded to red following a pitchside review.
And Chelsea made their man advantage count immediately when Marc Guiu tucked Wesley Fofana’s header across the box past Remko Pasveer from close range.
Moises Caicedo doubled the Blues’ advantage nine minutes later when his shot from distance deflected off Josip Sutalo and into the net, but the first of three first-half penalties was then awarded to the visitors after a clumsy tackle from Tosin Adarabioyo.
The Chelsea defender stepped on the foot of Raul Moro, with Wout Weghorst stepping up to place the ball into the bottom-right corner for Ajax’s first goal in the Champions League this season in the 33rd minute.
But Weghorst was involved at the other end on the stroke of half-time as he recklessly fouled Enzo Fernandez inside the box, with the Chelsea captain coolly dispatching from 12 yards.
Referee Felix Zwayer pointed to the spot for the third time in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time when Youri Baas clipped Estevao, who dusted himself down to score the penalty handed to him by Fernandez.
Not wanting to rest on their already sizeable advantage, Chelsea moved four goals clear three minutes after the restart through Tyrique George, whose deflected strike wrong-footed Pasveer.
Chelsea were unable to build on their lead, with Estevao and Jamie Gittens going close, though the hosts were comfortably out of sight to continue their impressive run of recent results.
Data Debrief: Teenage kicks guide Chelsea through the night
Injuries to many of his first-team regulars saw Maresca make eight changes to his lineup on Wednesday, though those alterations put together a strong bid for a first-team spot, most notably his youngsters.
Indeed, Chelsea (22 years, 163 days) named the second youngest starting XI by an English side in Champions League history, with only Arsenal against Olympiakos in December 2009 ever naming a younger side (21 years, 151 days).
And in Guiu (19), Estevao (18), and George (19), Chelsea are the first side in Champions League history to see three different teenagers score for them in a single match.
In addition, Reggie Walsh became the youngest ever Champions League player for the Blues (17 years, two days) and second-youngest Englishman ever, behind Jack Wilshere (16 years, 329 days).
Line-ups
Chelsea XI: Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, Jørgensen, Enzo, Caicedo, Gittens, Lavia, Jorrel Hato, Facundo Buonanotte, Estêvão, Guiu
Subs: Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Robert Sánchez, Pedro Neto, Garnacho, Andrey Santos, Josh Acheampong, Tyrique George, Max Merrick, Reggie Walsh, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen
Ajax XI: Remko Pasveer, Weghorst, Ko Itakura, Raúl Moro, Kenneth Taylor, Josip Sutalo, Lucas Rosa, Youri Baas, Oscar Gloukh, James McConnell, Mika Godts
Subs: Klaassen, Oliver Edvardsen, Jaros, Kian Fitz-Jim, Youri Regeer, Rayane Bounida, Anton Gaaei, Joeri Heerkens, Don-Angelo Konadu, Gerald Alders, Jorthy Mokio
