Kawasaki Frontale inflicted the first defeat of Frank Lampard’s tenure at Chelsea, as a late goal from Leandro Damiao sparked jubilant celebrations from the 61,000 capacity crowd inside the Todoroki Athletics Stadium.
Chelsea’s attacking fluency was suffocated under the rampant evening heat, and donning their new away kit, the Blues lacked any of the individuality and expression encapsulated in their campaign for the new shirt.
It is certainly not ‘A Chelsea thing’ to gift possession to the opposition and appear apathetic in the face of a promising attacking move.
Pre-season is a time to iron out these issues, and Lampard must ensure they do as the stodgy first-half display showed little promise for the campaign ahead.
A barrage of changes did little to stem the flow of mediocrity, and chances, although at less of a premium, were still hard to come by, with Ross Barkley seemingly the only player capable of creating space for a shot or a pass.
The game appeared to be meandering into a quickly forgettable episode in the short history of Lampard’s reign at the club until former Brazilian international Damiao popped up late on to snatch victory for the unfancied Japanese hosts.
The result, although disparaging, is not the main concern for Lampard going forward, and with fitness building, he will hope the Blues can acclimatise to Japan’s rising humidity in preparation for Tuesday’s game against Barcelona.
