Chelsea avoided a potential banana skin in the Carabao Cup tonight when they thumped Grimsby 7-1 at Stamford Bridge.
They were 2-0 up after just seven minutes with Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi taking no time to put the League Two side back in their box.
Matt Green’s stunner on 19 minutes meant it wasn’t a wasted trip to London for him, but a Pedro penalty and a rare Kurt Zouma goal put Chelsea out of sight. And they didn’t ease off the gas.
One youngster who really stood out was 18-year-old Billy Gilmour.
He might cut a slight figure but he put in a solid performance on Wednesday night and fans took to Twitter to hail the teen star.
He made his debut for Chelsea earlier this season, with a cameo performance in the 2-2 draw with Sheffield United, but was on from the start against Grimsby.
And Chelsea fans were really impressed with what they saw.
Here are the best reactions from Chelsea fans on Twitter:
Billy Gilmour is too good
— Baba Suwe (@Olaami3) September 25, 2019
Billy Gilmour has been our standout player tonight by far, what a player
— Smithy (@BSmith_92) September 25, 2019
The boy called Gilmour. What a talent #CFC #CarabaoCup
— Bamz (@Bamzi2Cleff) September 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/DonJorginho/status/1176946265801842703
One fan said Gilmour would be “taking over from Jorginho in the next 2-3 years”.
That’s some praise with the 27-year-old Italian signing for a fee of over £50m from Napoli last summer.
Gilmour hasn’t just impressed the fans, though. He made a big impact on manager Frank Lampard in pre-season and that’s got him his chances in the first team.
Lampard said of Gilmour after games against Bohemians and St Patrick’s Athletic: “He’s had a brilliant trip and has shown real personality at the level that he’s played for a young lad in these two games.”
“He’s been great. I just hope Billy keeps pushing on with that this season.” [talkSPORT]
https://twitter.com/Zak1606/status/1176945919658528768
https://twitter.com/CFCBrian_/status/1176946258407251968
Another fan said he was a “World Class player in the making” and that will please Gilmour who has no shortage of confidence in his own ability.
Asked if he thought he could be the best player in the world, Gilmour replied, “In the world, yeah. I think every kid’s dream should be that.” [BBC]
He might consider stage one of his plot for world domination complete after tonight’s performance.
Billy Gilmour is better than De Jong
— Zi (@advancedwinger) September 25, 2019
Gilmour was the best player extremely brilliant ??
— Dipo (@Lukmanjrd) September 25, 2019
Billy Gilmour has been the real deal so far. He’s been picking out a lot of runs with his quick passing and is really composed on the ball. So technically smart for an 18 year old
— Z?CH (@CFCZach) September 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/PrimeZouma/status/1176945205989269504