He was struggling — Chelsea boss Maresca explains Estevao half-time substitution in Leeds defeat

Maresca has opened up on his decision to withdraw Estevao at half-time during their 3-1 defeat to Leeds United, stating he feared the young Brazilian was heading for a red card.

Leeds had gone into the break with a commanding two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka.

Estevao was shown a yellow card just before the interval for a challenge on Sweden international Gabriel Gudmundsson, which was a decisive factor in Maresca's thinking.

Pedro Neto pulled one goal back for the Blues after the restart, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin capitalized on a defensive error to seal the victory for the hosts.

The result leaves Chelsea nine points behind Premier League table-toppers, Arsenal.

Maresca admitted the intensity of the match might have overwhelmed the 18-year-old winger. “I think the feeling with Estevao was a little bit, ‘welcome to Premier League, welcome to Leeds’,” Maresca said in his post-match press conference.

“The impact for him must have been probably a big, big impact for him. The reason why we changed him is because he was already a yellow card."

The Italian manager explained he felt compelled to make the change to manage the player's emotions and prevent further disciplinary action.

"Sometimes when you are 18, you struggle to manage emotion, so it was better to change him and to avoid any red card.”