Chelsea rounded off their pre-season tour of America with a comfortable 3-1 win over AC Milan.
A strong Chelsea side began intrepidly, however, as Milan dominated the early proceedings – coming close on several occasions through Juraj Kucka and M’Baye Niang.
But it was to be Chelsea who would strike first in Minnesota – with Burkina Faso international Bertrand Traore heading home after Victor Moses’ shot had been parried by Milan ‘keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Milan finally capitalised upon some sustained pressure, as Giacomo Bonaventura curled home a quite spectacular free-kick to leave the sides level at half-time.
The Rossoneri started the second-half with the same energy and impetus as they had started the first, with Niang once again passing up a golden opportunity to score. Ignazio Abate also came close as Chelsea failed to find their feet in the second-half.
The introduction of the lively Eden hazard added a much-needed bite to Chelsea’s attacking play, as the pendulum swung back in Chelsea’s favour. With one of the Belgian’s numerous surging runs eventually allowing Cesar Azpilicueta to escape down the left-hand side and whip in a ball that was subsequently handled by Milan midfielder Andrea Poli. Brazilian substitute Oscar rifled home the resulting spot kick to hand back control to the Blues. Oscar then doubled his tally late on, with a crisp finish into the far corner of the net.
Here’re our player ratings from the win, alongside the minutes played for each player.
