Singha All-Stars 0-1 Chelsea (Wed 17 July, 14:00 BST)
Romelu Lukaku further cemented his claim to be Chelsea’s main man as the Belgian’s first-half penalty gave Jose Mourinho is first win since his second coming.
A trip by Kasonga on Wallace brought the spot-kick and with Lampard pulling out injured in the warm-up, Lukaku was determined to seize his opportunity with just over half an hour gone.
De Bruyne,one of only two players to play longer than 45 minutes, was enjoying the freedom of the playmaker role and it was his floating free-kick which nearly broke the deadlock, before Lukaku eventually pounced.
Hazard lit up the pitch before De Bruyne departed after a 78-minute workout, but it was disappointing to not see the defensive combination of Kalas and Terry, and then Ivanovic and Cahill, being tested further.
A goal, clean sheet, young players aplenty and lots of match action later, it was a confident start to the Mourinho Regime: Take Two.
Malaysia XI 1-4 Chelsea (Sun 21 July, 14:45 BST)
Chelsea’s second match saw a much more convincing 4-1 win.
Traore opened the scoring whilst Lukaku and De Bruyne both grabbed a goal and assist, whilst Moses scored late on to make it four, before Fadhli scored a late consolation for Malaysia XI.
It was an assured match from the off. Lukaku looked to start the match as he left off from the opening game against Singha All-Stars, denied on several occasions. Triallist Bertrand Traore was intent on proving himself as a capable first-team player and his outing as Chelsea’s left-winger produced a tap-in within six minutes.
It was De Bruyne will the assist and he scored himself soon after thanks to a Lukaku flick-on. It was route one stuff from Cech and when Lukaku headed down to his compatriot, De Bruyne hit it smoothly on the half-volley. His landing was less smooth and had to be substituted. Feruz took his place for the 15 minutes left of the first-half.
And the 17-year-old made a positive contribution in his time, slotting a through-ball to Lukaku, who side-footed home.
The second half brought changes but the same 4-2-3-1 system. Ba was the main man, supported by Piazon, Schurrle and Moses, and it was the latter who seized the moment with a right-foot drilled shot with two minutes to go.
A late rally from Malaysia XI brought one goal back from a free-kick position. Cech saved the set-piece but Fadhli was fast enough for a flying header for the rebound. Ashley Cole then made a trademark goal-line clearance as Malaysia XI looked to score another consolation, but there was only going to be one winner.
BNI Indonesia All-Stars 1-8 Chelsea (Thu 25 July, 14:30 BST)
The style was turned on in front of an 80,000-strong crowd as Chelsea made their Indonesia debut with a thumping 8-1 victory.
Four goals in the first half was followed up with five by Chelsea players in the second, albeit one in the form of a consolatory own goal for the All-Stars team.
A slow start and slow end occurred as all the damage was done between the 20th and 70th minute. Hazard’s came first, a penalty after John Terry was squashed and felled. Hazard, with eyes firmly fixed on the keeper and not even looking at the ball, slotted it away effortlessly.
It was 2-0 eight minutes later as Ramires lashed home is first. The Brazilian also scored Chelsea’s seventh with similar power and precision.
Between Ramires’ brace came four more in 25 minutes. Ba profitted from a rebound off a Ramires shot, whilst Terry leapt highest as the half-time whistle was to be blown.
Bertrand Traore curled home a stunner in the pick of the goals whilst a minute later, Lukaku headed home Chelsea’s sixth.
The rout was completed with another Lukaku goal, this time a confident side-foot as Chelsea not head to America with a 100% win rate in Asia.
Chelsea 2-0 Inter Milan (Fri 2 Aug, 01:00 BST)
Chelsea’s great pre-season run was extended in the States as Oscar and Hazard came up with the goods to see off Inter Milan.
Mourinho was welcomed with rapturous applause by the entire stadium as Inter Milan fans hold Mourinho in as overwhelming esteem as the Blues, but it was not all friendly on the pitch as Campagnaro was sent off for a disgraceful lunge on John Terry, who was lucky to escape without serious injuries.
That was just before the hour-mark, but the damage was already done before the half-hour point. A swift counter-attack by Moses found Oscar, who curled home in wonderful fashion. Hazard then scored from the spot after staring out Handanovic and rolling the ball into the opposite corner.
The youngsters seen in Asia made way for the returning party present at the Confederations Cup, as the likes of Mata and Luiz came on for some game-time and to see out the match.
AC Milan 0-2 Chelsea (Sun 4 Aug, 23:30 BST)
A two-nil against Inter Milan and now a two-nil win against AC Milan has seen Chelsea through to their first final of the season, and it is against Mourinho’s former club.
Goals from the attacking duo of De Bruyne and Schurrle secured Chelsea’s passage to the inaugural International Champions Cup 2013 Final, with Real Madrid’s coach Carlo Ancelotti also getting the chance to face his former club.
It was another tremendously convincing performance with goals and a solid back-line, as the Blues have only conceded two goals, whilst scoring 17, in the five pre-season games thus far.
Wonderful link-up play between Oscar and Hazard started the first goal and as the Belgian drove, he picked out his compatriot De Bruyne who side-footed home into Abbiati’s far corner, catching the Milan goalkeeper wrong-footed.
Despite the superior play throughout, the substitutions no doubt broke up some convincing play and it was only in injury time did we see the game’s next goal. Moses’ right-wing cross met Schurrle mid-air, as the German volleyed accurately home, to set up a mouth-watering clash against Real Madrid, and perhaps a curtain raiser for any Champions League meeting later in the campaign.
Chelsea 1-3 Real Madrid (Thu 8 Aug, 02:00 BST)
A Marcelo goal and a Ronaldo brace helped Real Madrid win the inaugural International Champions Cup, as Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea suffered their first loss in six pre-season matches thus far.
A Ramires equaliser moments after Marcelo’s opener was only a brief moment of joy as, despite some strong moments of play, Casillas stood firm and Ronaldo did what he did best, proudly gloating in Mourinho’s face in celebration afterwards.
A slow Chelsea start meant Marcelo’s daisy-cutter crept in with 13 minutes played, before Ramires’ finished off some wonderful team-play with an exquisite chip over Casillas, reminiscent of the Camp Nou goal in the Champions League-winning season.
Ronaldo’s bullet of a free-kick restored Madrid’s lead, but his arrogant celebratory taunt aimed at Mourinho seemed to fire up the Blues early in the second half. Chelsea beat the offside trap on more than one occasion, but Hazard found Casillas blocking his path.
It was another good Ronaldo goal — this time arriving late to power home a fantastic header — that saw Chelsea succumb to defeat.
AS Roma 1-2 Chelsea (Sun 11 Aug, 01:00 BST)
Lukaku bagged a late winner as Chelsea end pre-season on a high.
A calamitous mix-up at the back, where Schwarzer misjudged the bounce of Bertrand’s back-pass, led to Lamela striking home, but the match turned in the second half.
Where there was little inspiration for a goal in the first period, the likes of Hazard, Lampard and Ba reinvigorated the tired Chelsea side, who have jetted nearly 25,000 miles in an elaborate Asia and America double-tour.
Lampard, who missed the majority through injury, could provide fresh legs and equalised from 25 yards with a trademark long-range strike. The Roma defence ought to have been more aware of Lampard’s abilities after doing similar year after year, but afforded him too much space in a central position.
Lukaku had the bragging rights of the strikers however. Torres and Ba had a half each, but Lukaku only came on for Terry in the 78th minute, but produced the winner little over 10 minutes later, latching onto a positive Hazard win.
Six wins, one defeat, but no points. The real work starts a week today.
Here is a table of the minutes played of each Chelsea player in this tour, courtesy of thechels.net:
Player Minutes Played
Gary Cahill 465
Ramires 448
Eden Hazard 433
John Terry 421
Branislav Ivanovic 414
Marco Van Ginkel 408
Ashley Cole 342
Victor Moses 315
Ryan Bertrand 288
Michael Essien 287
Petr Cech 270
Romelu Lukaku 256
Demba Ba 255
Kevin De Bruyne 245
Mark Schwarzer 225
Andre Schurrle 187
Oscar 180
Fernando Torres 149
Cesar Azpilicueta 143
Jamal Blackman 135
Wallace 135
Tomas Kalas 135
Nathaniel Chalobah 135
John Obi Mikel 116
Bertrand Traore 101
Lucas Piazon 99
Juan Mata 90
Frank Lampard 90
David Luiz 75
Josh McEachran 54
Islam Feruz 44