‘Congrats’… Ben Chilwell sends message to Chelsea youngster after what he achieved last night

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Chelsea youngster Jimi Tauriainen reached a landmark achievement yesterday by making his first-team debut.

Chelsea recorded a much-needed 3-2 victory over Championship club Leeds United last night in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Next, they’ve got another home tie in the quarter finals and welcome Leicester City in mid-March.

The Blues kept their heads to respond to the weekends’s disappointment of losing the League Cup final to Liverpool.

It’s a trip to local rivals Brentford next in the league this Saturday.

Jimi Tauriainen, who’s only aged 19, is going to remember the Leeds tie for the rest of his life.

The teenage midfielder was substituted on during stoppage time for his senior debut.

It was another great day for the Blues academy at Cobham to see one of their youngsters rub shoulders with the first-team squad on a matchday.

Chelsea vice-captain Ben Chilwell, 27, congratulated Tauriainen on his first senior appearance with a message on social media

Chilwell wrote on his Instagram story: “@JimiTauriainen, Congrats on the debut mate.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea captain Reece James greeted Tauriainen with a big hug when he came off the pitch after his debut, as spotted by The Athletic’s Simon Johnson on X.

Jimi Tauriainen debut

Tauriainen actually arrived at Stamford Bridge as a Chelsea player back in 2020, so huge credit to him for all the hard work in the youth squads in the last few years.

Let’s hope it’s the start of a long and successful first-team career for the left-footed midfielder.

We’ve seen Blues head coach Mauricio Pochettino introduce academy youngsters at various points of the season, with Alfie Gilchrist perhaps the biggest winner of that. We’d argue we’ve not seen enough of other youngsters such as Leo Castledine and Ronnie Stutter, though.

It’s obvious the pressure is on this inconsistent Chelsea team to improve results, so it must be harder to throw more inexperience into the side. Liverpool is proof that there’s real talent playing in academy football.