Chelsea 1-1 Johor Darul Ta'zim Live Score, Club Friendly 2026: Second Half Underway

The referee blows the whistle to bring an entertaining first half to a close at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, with Johor Darul Ta'zim and Chelsea deadlocked at one goal apiece.

The hosts started brightly and broke the deadlock early, but Chelsea grew into the half and hit back before the break. Liam Delap restored parity for the Blues from the penalty spot after drawing a foul in the area, ensuring both sides head into the dressing rooms level after a competitive opening 45 minutes.

Chelsea pushing for a late goal in first half!

The Blues are ramping up the pressure in search of a second goal, testing the Johor Darul Ta'zim defense with consecutive efforts.

First, center-back Tosin Adarabioyo stepped forward and tried his luck with a right-footed strike from outside the box, but his ambitious effort sailed high and wide to the left.

Moments later, Chelsea caught the hosts on a rapid counter-attack. Nicolas Jackson slipped a brilliant through ball into the path of Liam Delap, who let fly with a right-footed shot from outside the area. His curling effort had the crowd holding their breath, but it flashed agonizingly close, missing just to the left of the post.

Penalty to Chelsea and it's leveled!

Liam Delap uses his strength brilliantly to draw a foul inside the penalty area, and the referee points straight to the spot.

Delap steps up to take the spot-kick himself and makes no mistake. He dispatches a confident right-footed shot straight into the bottom left corner, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and bringing the Blues right back on level terms!

JDT threatening from distance as Chelsea forced into a change!

Johor Darul Ta'zim continue to press for another goal, with Nacho Méndez trying his luck from distance. Picking up a neat pass from Marcos Guilherme, Méndez unleashed a powerful left-footed strike from outside the box, but his effort drifted just wide of the right post.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are forced into a premature tactical change. Aaron Anselmino has gone down with an injury and is replaced by Reggie Watson in the Blues' backline.

Close again for Johor Darul Ta'zim!

The Malaysian side continues to press for a second goal, with Óscar Arribas coming agonizingly close to doubling their lead. Finding a pocket of space on the right, Arrisbas cut inside and let fly with a right-footed shot from a difficult angle. His curling effort had plenty of promise, but ultimately flashed narrowly wide of the post, much to the relief of the Chelsea backline.

Goal! Johor Darul Ta'zim strike first!

The home crowd erupts in Johor as the Malaysian giants take a shock lead against Chelsea.

The breakthrough came down the flank as Marcos Guilherme carved open the Blues' defense. Guilherme delivered a sharp ball across the face of goal, picking out Arif Aiman on the right side of the six-yard box. Aiman met it cleanly, steering a precise right-footed shot into the bottom right corner past the Chelsea goalkeeper to put JDT ahead.

Chelsea ramping up the pressure!

The Blues are beginning to find their rhythm in the international friendly against Johor Darul Ta'zim, stringing together a couple of promising attacking sequences.

First, Nicolas Jackson tried his luck from distance, unleashing a right-footed strike from outside the box that sailed just a bit too high over the crossbar, following a setup from Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli.

Minutes later, Chelsea came much closer to opening the scoring. Jackson turned provider this time, slipping a clever pass through to Liam Delap on the left side of the area. Delap drove a low left-footed shot toward the bottom right corner, but JDT goalkeeper Syihan Hazmi was sharp to the danger, diving down to make a crucial save and keep the hosts level.

The international club friendly is underway as Johor Darul Ta'zim and Chelsea kick off at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium with distinct tactical agendas.

The Malaysian giants have set up with a well-drilled, structured attacking approach, placing their trust in the frontline trio of Aiman, Zahedi, and Pasero to test the visitors' backline. In response, Chelsea have rolled out an energetic, youthful starting eleven packed with emerging talent, eager to seize the pre-season stage and impress the technical staff. Both sides are currently feeling each other out in the opening exchanges as they look to assert control.

Syihan Hazmi, Antonio Glauder, Shahab Zahedi, Arid Aiman, Dejan Petrovic, Eddy Israfilov, Oscar Arribas Pasero, Nacho Mendez, Jonathan Silva, Kevin Medina, Marcos Guilherme

Chelsea and Johor Darul Ta'zim are set to face off at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, with the pre-season friendly scheduled to begin at 5:30 PM IST. Both sides will look to make the most of this final tune-up ahead of the new season.

Greetings, we are back with our Club Friendly 2026 live blog as Chelsea and Johor Darul Ta'zim face-off at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, Malaysia on Sunday in their final pre-season outing. Stay tuned for more updates