Chelsea turn on the style against Milan
Chelsea 1 AC Milan 0
Chelsea geared up for the upcoming season by beating a strong AC Milan side at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Only a first-half Arjen Robben goal separated the two sides but that did not do justice to the Blues’ superiority after Jose Mourinho’s side created a host of good chances.
A succession of substitutions saw Chelsea lose their way a little late on in the second half but the Premiership champions were boosted by a promising display from new boy Shaun Wright-Phillips in that period.
In front of just more than 26,000 fans at the home of Super Bowl winners the New England Patriots, Chelsea started much brighter than Milan, beaten finalists in last season’s Champions League against champions Liverpool.
Irish winger Damien Duff had a shot from the edge of the area well saved by Greek international Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos after just seven minutes.
But the keeper could do nothing about a low left-foot strike from a similar position by Robben which went in off the post six minutes later.
Eleftheropoulos had to come off his line quickly to thwart a Duff break down the right and again did well to hold on to a shot from Frank Lampard as Chelsea piled on the pressure.
Brazilian full-back Cafu was causing the Blues some problems with his overlapping runs down the right flank but it was Chelsea who continued to look the more threatening.
Robben and Hernan Crespo combined superbly to set up Lampard but the midfielder couldn’t keep his shot down.
Robben’s electric pace then created an opening for Crespo but the returning Argentinian striker continued where he left off for Chelsea by firing well over the bar when he should have done better.
Eidur Gudjohnsen had the ball in the back of the net again after 32 minutes but play had already been stopped for offside against Crespo.
Milan did almost draw level, however, after another surging run from Cafu led to Geremi deflecting the Brazilian’s cross against Clarence Seedorf just a couple of metres out, only for the ball to bounce back into the grateful arms of Carlo Cudicini.
Chelsea made eight changes at the interval, with Mourinho introducing Petr Cech for Cudicini and electing to start the second half with a totally different back four and front three.
Glen Johnson, John Terry, Robert Huth and new signing Asierdel Horno replaced Geremi, Ricardo Carvalho, William Gallas and Paulo Ferreira in defence, while Joe Cole, Carlton Cole and Wright-Phillips came in for Duff, Crespo and Robben up front.
The Blues’ new line-up started brightly, with Carlton Cole connecting well with a header which unfortunately went straight at Eleftheropoulos.
Del Horno picked up a yellow card following a bit of push-and-shove with Cafu and Gudjohnsen made way for Tiago as the match went through a bit of a lull.
A bustling run by Carlton Cole gave Wright-Phillips the chance to make a dream debut but he screwed his shot wide despite Eleftheropoulos being well out of position.
The former Manchester City winger looked sharp when racing onto a Lampard through-ball, however, and showed several neat touches in an encouraging display.
Lampard was replaced by Didier Drogba with 65 minutes on the clock and the Ivory Coast striker should have made it 2-0 soon after when heading over the bar from eight yards out following a superb cross from Johnson.
Jiri Jarosik came on to replace Carlton Cole while Lassana Diara was given 10 minutes at the end in place of Claude Makelele.
Both had few chances to shine, though, as Milan enjoyed more of the possession while Chelsea sat back on their lead.
But there were few worrying moments for Chelsea to endure and the game ended on a low note when Milan midfielder Rino Gattuso was given a rather harsh straight red card for upending Joe Cole.
