Blues snatch late win thanks to Batshuayi strike after Ajax had first-half goal controversially ruled out through VAR
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FOR all the baby steps Frankie’s fledglings have made so far, this felt like the biggest stride yet.
Consecutive victories over Southampton, Newcastle, Brighton, Lille and Grimsby had been encouraging for Frank Lampard’s youngsters.
But inflicting Ajax’s first defeat since their cruel Champions League semi-final exit to Spurs in May - in their own back yard - was a cut above.
This time it was not one of the whizkids responsible for the victory.
Instead it was Michy Batshuayi - a man whose Chelsea career looked over when he was shipped off on loan to Valencia and then Crystal Palace last season.
But the Belgian has been brought back into the fold by Lampard in recent weeks, overtaking Olivier Giroud in the pecking order but behind star man Tammy Abraham.
He came on for Abraham with 19 minutes to go and at first had looked to blow his side’s best chance when he blazed a sitter over the bar.
Yet he more than made up for it with as he lethally fired in fellow sub Christian Pulisic’s low cross in off the bar with four minutes to play.
The victory was all the more impressive as it saw Lampard’s men prevent Ajax from scoring at home for the first time since February 2018, adding another proud moment in Fikayo Tomori’s rapid rise.
It did not come without its hairy moments with Quincy Promes having a goal ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside before the break, before Edson Alvarez struck the woodwork after it.
But in the end Chelsea’s sixth win in a row was just-about deserved and gave their hopes of qualifying out of a testing group a huge boost.
Lampard had claimed his side’s purple patch going into this game counted for little because of the superior quality of their Dutch hosts compared to their recent opponents.
This was the real acid test of how far his rejuvenation project had come.
Erik ten Hag’s team had been a relentless winning machine, despite selling off the silverware in world-class whizkids Matthijs De Ligt and Frenkie De Jong this summer.
Ten Hag insisted he had no issues with the state of the pitch despite the stadium hosting the Amsterdam Music Festival on Saturday.
DJs including David Guetta played to 40,000 revellers who danced into the early hours on the boarded-over turf.
And in fairness it looked as lush as ever as the two sides prepared to tango as the locals pumped up the volume.
This game was billed as Lampard’s whizkids taking on the masters of youth production.
But with inexperienced players comes mistakes and there were plenty of them in an enthralling and error-strewn first half.
Tomori was the first to make a gaffe, losing possession inside two minutes and allowing Ajax to counter but was saved by an offside call.
The recent England call-up almost made amends for it surely afterwards as he rose to meet Willian’s corner, but he could not get a decent connection.
This was Callum Hudson-Odoi’s first start in the Champions League in what has been a remarkable rise for the teenager.
The powerful winger looked to have returned from a serious Achilles problem in better shape than ever with his two goals for the England Under-21s against Austria last week.
But this first-half display served as a reminder of how green he is with some poor decision-making wasting good opportunities.
There were times when he just could not find the right pass, others where his shooting or crossing was off.
He wasted a good chance as the ball fell to him in the area only for the London lad to hastily half-volley the ball wide.
Yet given this was only the 33rd senior appearance of the 18-year-old’s career, it could well prove to be a vital lesson in his progression.
And his neat one-two with Mason Mount saw the former Derby loanee draw an excellent stop from Andre Onana early on.
Industrious Mount was back on Dutch soil having been named in the Eredivisie Team of the Year while on loan at Vitesse Arnhem two seasons ago.
The mistakes were not consigned to only the visitors as the home crowd started to get on their players’ backs with every misplaced pass.
That was before they gave Marcos Alonso a merciless rendition of ‘You’re s*** and you know you are” after the Spaniard had been felled by Sergino Dest.
Ajax stepped it up towards the end of the half and though they had the lead on 35 minutes as Quincy Promes stabbed home Hakim Ziyech’s heavily-deflected cross at the far post.
The cheers soon turned to jeers though as a lengthy VAR review chalked the goal off, deeming Promes to have had half a foot offside.
Promes was then denied at the far post by a block so good from Cesar Azpilicueta that the Spaniard punched the air with both fists in celebration.
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Chelsea were holding firm but their goal-frame was shaking just before the hour as Edson Alvarez headed Promes’ corner against the far post with Kepa helpless.
The Spanish stopper looked far more comfortable as he dived low to hold a low blast from ex-Manchester United man Daley Blind a minute later - amazingly the game’s first shot on target.
Lampard rang the changes for the final quarter with Pulisic and Batshuayi on for Willian and Tammy Abraham.
Batshuayi missed a sitter minutes later as Pulisic’s deflected shot fell to him, alone inside the area, but he blazed it well over the bar no doubt praying for an offside flag which did not materialise.
He made up for his wastefulness though as with four minutes to go, he rifled Pulisic’s cut-back off the woodwork and in to give Lampard’s Chelsea their most significant win yet.
