Chelsea began the quest for a second Premier League Asia Trophy by beating their local opponents Kitchee by 4-0 to set up the final against Aston Villa. Frank Lampard opened the scoring the again; then an own goal (again!) doubled the lead before goals from Didier Drogba and Daniel Sturridge rounded off another satisfying night for the Blues. The Premier League Asia trophy was one of the first tournaments that…
Chelsea stepped up a gear in their preparations for the new season after a much improved second-half performance against Thailand All Stars meant the Blues eventually cruised to a 4-0 win. The first half display was again of tireless hard work, without much reward, but the introduction of fresh legs on the hour mark made the final thirty minutes look like a stroll in the park. Another jam-packed stadium was…
Chelsea continued their pre-season preparations with another win under some tough conditions, as the Blues started their Asian quest with a 1-0 win in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. A controversial own-goal from a Didier Drogba free-kick was the only goal of the game with the under-strength Malaysians giving a hard fight to the Blues. The Bukit-Jalil stadium, having capacity of 90,000, was almost full, creating a great atmosphere…
After a long break, Chelsea returned back to playing as a large crowd greeted them at Fratton Park in their first friendly in public eye, with the Blues securing a 1-0 win. This was also the first chance for the Chelsea fans to see the new boss, André Villas-Boas, in action after the first match against Wycombe Wanderers was played behind doors. On a day when three different Chelsea sides…
Chelsea’s pre-season tour concluded on a sour note with yet another defeat due to defensive errors. The match started well enough, with almost a full strength line-up missing only Drogba and Cech from the starting XI, although the former was on the bench. Chelsea kicked off the first half and within a few minutes Lampard had a shot on goal that the Hamburg keeper, Rost, managed to clear to safety….
In a few hours Chelsea will kick off their fourth and final pre-season match against Hamburg in the Volksparkstadion, Germany. After a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Frankfurt on Sunday, Ancelotti will be looking for a better display from his team as part of the preparation for the Community Shield match with United this coming weekend. With all the players back from the World Cup now, and only a few notable…
The goalkeeping situation at Chelsea warrants further scrutiny after a string of mistakes by Hilario against Frankfurst, followed a weak display by Turnbull against Ajax. With many of the bigger name players returning from the World Cup, it was nice to see such luminary players as Lampard, Terry, Anelka and Malouda return to the starting line-up. Many players were still clearly rusty, but it was Hilario who took centre stage…
In a little over three hours, Chelsea will kick off the next stage of their pre-season schedule away to Eintracht Frankfurt. The squad flew out earlier this week, however is still without Frank Lampard, and Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge stayed back for treatment to a minor ankle injury, with Frank sidelined by a virus. Gael Kakuta, back from his exploits at the U19 Euros, will also join up with the squad…
A flying visit to Amsterdam was second on Chelsea’s pre-season agenda, with the itinerary surrounding Friday’s match with Ajax demanding a twelve-hour round trip. The mood in the camp on the flight home may be a rather damp one after Carlo Ancelotti’s boys (and they were boys) fell to a 3-1 defeat against their Champions League opponents. An own goal from Jeffrey Bruma put the hosts ahead in the sixth…
Brazilian defender Alex has been ruled out for up to a month after a thigh injury suffered in training this week. He joins Petr Cech on the sidelines with both likely to miss the rest of the pre-season campaign. Hilario is expected to step up in his absence in the match against Ajax on Friday, with Turnbull getting the second half, but other than the loss of Alex, the squad…