Enzo Maresca keen to temper expectations about teenage hat-trick hero Marc Guiu

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca urged not to heap expectation onto 18-year-old striker Marc Guiu after his first-half hat-trick helped seal a 5-1 demolition of Shamrock Rovers in the Conference League.

The former Barcelona academy graduate is now the leading scorer in the competition after he helped his side round off the league phase with a perfect record ahead of a three-month hiatus before the last 16.

He was one of three teenage starters at Stamford Bridge with winger Tyrique George and defender Josh Acheampong, who signed a new contract until 2029 on Wednesday, also impressing.

With senior internationals Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku ahead of him in the pecking order, Guiu is likely to have to wait for regular playing time in the Premier League.

“With Marc the problem is sometimes probably we forget his age,” said Maresca. “He’s the same age as Josh Acheampong, Ty (George), born in 06. He’s already scored six goals in this competition, and since we started he’s working well.

“He knows that with Nicolas and Christo there it’s not easy for him but it’s important he continues to work in the right way.”

Guiu was the star of the first half as Chelsea’s second string blew the League of Ireland side away.

His first two goals came from calamitous errors in defence by Shamrock, first when defender Darragh Burns sold his goalkeeper short and allowed Guiu to head into an empty net, then Daniel Cleary suffered a similar lapse to give the Spain under-21 international his second.

In between, Shamrock had levelled via midfielder Markus Poom who drilled past Filip Jorgensen via a deflection, but once Chelsea had retaken the lead there only ever looked one winner.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made it 3-1 slotting his second