After Estevao Willian's dazzling performance in Chelsea's win over Manchester United on Saturday afternoon, one of his footballing idols, Neymar, was left mightily impressed.

Estevao made his first Premier League start of the season and left the home supporters purring with an excellent display. After the game, Xabi Alonso said it was the "best response" from the 19-year-old to being left out of the side for the majority of season up until Saturday's win.

Alonso said: "You ask me, but sometimes I can't give you all the info [before the game regarding whether Estevao would play]. We spoke after Tottenham and he knew that he was going to be playing today.

FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

"He has had the best response to show that he deserves more, that he was prepared and that's what you want from a football player, so I'm very happy for him. He deserved to enjoy his game, he had a good connection with the crowd. He was really close to scoring that goal. At the end he fought really hard, he was tired and it has been a good day for him."

Estevao's teammates were clearly delighted to have him back on the pitch as well. After Morgan Rogers scored the opening goal of the game, via a stunning solo run into the Man United box, he celebrated with the little Brazilian.

The Chelsea duo imitated Neymar's iconic celebration. Neymar reshared Estevao's story of him and Rogers copying his celebration and wrote: "Fenômenos". The word in Portuguese translates to, "Phenomenon" in English.

Estevao has spoken a lot in the past about Neymar, someone he has naturally been compared to given their play styles and their nationality, being one of the figures in football he looks up to most.

He told The Guardian this in 2024: "I like Neymar a lot too, Cristiano Ronaldo. But my reference is [Lionel] Messi for everything he’s done for football. The way he plays and what he does off the pitch is a guy I always have to look up to. And, of course, for me being left-footed like him favours as well.

"Some people are born with talent, others have to work hard. Good examples are Messi and Ronaldo. Messi has the talent, Ronaldo the effort. I look for both. Talent and dedication. Today in football you have to dedicate yourself, you have to keep to a schedule, train, travel, take care of yourself. You have to give up a lot. Without dedication you can’t get anywhere."

Estevao will be hoping he did enough to earn his second successive league start when the Blues make the trip to the Stadium of Light on Sunday afternoon.