Club World Cup Champions registered a thumping win
Signing Liam Delap scored a brace
Chelsea begin PL season against Palace
Chelsea wrapped up their pre-season preparations with a 4-1 victory against AC Milan at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca’s Club World Cup champions host Community Shield victors Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener next Sunday, and they will enter that match on the back of a morale-boosting win.
The hosts opened the scoring just five minutes into the game, with a free-kick from captain Reece James turned in by Romanian defender Andrei Coubis for an own goal.
That lead was doubled in the eighth minute. Pedro Neto did well down the right wing and delivered a cross towards Joao Pedro, who applied a headed finish past Mike Maignan.
Coubis’ afternoon got worse when he was sent off in the 18th minute. He was one-on-one with Joao Pedro, who took it past him before he was brought to the ground by the defender, who was deemed to be the last man.
Chelsea’s third goal came from a penalty after new signing Estevao was bundled over inside the box. The spot-kick was calmly converted by substitute Liam Delap in the 67th minute, as he fired the ball into the bottom-left corner.
The visitors pulled one back in the 70th minute when Alexis Saelemaekers played through Youssouf Fofana, who beat Robert Sanchez at his near post.
But Chelsea wrapped up a successful outing with Delap getting his second late on. Andrey Santos laid the ball off for him on the edge of the box, and he beat Maignan with confidence.
Data Debrief: Chelsea’s threatening attack
Chelsea's fans were able to see a host of new attacking additions in the flesh on Sunday, and they combined to great effect.
Jamie Gittens, a recent arrival from Borussia Dortmund, proved a threat on the left, having nine touches in the opposition box, the most by any player in the game.
Despite only coming on after 60 minutes, Delap, like Neto, had two shots on target, the joint-most in the match, with both of the Englishman's efforts finding the net.
Chelsea’s domination was reflected in the expected goals (xG) statistics, having 2.66 compared to Milan’s 0.92.
