Kenneth Taylor received his marching orders during the first half of Chelsea’s encounter with Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. Around the quarter-hour mark, the midfielder lunged into a shocking challenge on Facundo Buonanotte, making contact with his opponent just above the ankle.
Following extensive consideration from referee Felix Zwayer and vociferous protests from Enzo Maresca on the touchline, video assistant referee Soren Storks and his colleague Christian Dingert stepped in. After a brief examination of the incident, Taylor was dismissed. Moments afterwards, Marc Guiu opened the scoring, propelling the Blues ahead.
Estevao Willian, having drifted infield onto his preferred left foot, located Wesley Fofana at the far post. The Chelsea defender nodded the ball back across goal, locating the 19-year-old frontman.
Guiu sensed the opportunity, slotting home from close quarters. With Liam Delap remaining sidelined, the youngster will be eager to catch Maresca’s attention.
Chelsea doubled their advantage before the break with Moises Caicedo finding the back of the net, but Wout Weghorst pulled one back for Ajax from the penalty spot just minutes later.
Chelsea boss Maresca made it clear that he was expecting a tough night against Ajax in his pre-match press conference.
Regarding the Dutch giants, he said: “They always try to play their football. For sure, it will be a difficult game.
“They are a club that have won this competition in the past. They want to prove to everyone that they can come here and beat us. We are going to try and do exactly the same.”
Speaking about competing in the Champions League, Maresca remarked: “It’s a nice competition because you play against a fantastic club.
“We were not happy with the result at Bayern but the performance, we were happy with. We knew that was a difficult game.
“Benfica, we tried to prepare the game to win the game in the best way but when you face this kind of club, there are always things you can learn after the game. It is going to be exactly the same tomorrow.”