A good night's working for Chelsea in Italy saw us secure a dominant win over Udinese,
even if the scoreline💱 could have been much more emphatic.
There was plenty for Thomas
Tuchel to be happy about as his team came through💱 this tie against top-flight European
opposition in tiring conditions with a minimum of fuss, with our head coach's only real
💱 complaint likely to be that it took us until so late to finally put the result beyond
doubt with our💱 third goal.
In truth, we dominated play from start to finish. Even by
the time N'Golo Kante fired a fine opening💱 goal in off the base of the post from
outside the box it had the feel of a game we💱 could have been winning by more.
We
briefly were when Raheem Sterling hit the back of the net for the first💱 time since
joining Chelsea, scrambling home from close range after an excellent pass from
Jorginho, but the hosts pulled one💱 back on the counter before half-time when former
Watford forward Gerard Deulofeu turned in the rebound from Roberto Pereyra's shot.
The
💱 Blues continued to dominate after the break, but despite a deflected Sterling effort
coming back off the post, it took💱 until the 90th minute for us to extend our lead back
to two goals, when Mason Mount tapped in substitute💱 Callum Hudson-Odoi's low ball
across goal.
It wasn't just the scoreline that will have given Tuchel reason to be
cheeful, though,💱 as Kalidou Koulibaly looked to be settling alongside his new
team-mates well in defence and Sterling got off the mark💱 for his new club, while Kante
looked sharp and excelled throughout despite missing our pre-season trip to
America.
The selection
Having come💱 off the bench in the final game of our US tour
against Arsenal, Kalidou Koulibaly made his first start in💱 a Chelsea shirt since
joining from Napoli, forming an experienced back three alongside Thiago Silva and Cesar
Azpilicueta, who captained💱 the side, in front of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Reece James
and Marcos Alonso were on the wings, with Jorginho joined in💱 midfield by N'Golo Kante,
making his first appearance for Thomas Tuchel’s side during pre-season after missing
the trip to America.
Summer💱 signing Raheem Sterling was also involved from the start,
operating at the centre of a fluid front three, flanked by💱 Mason Mount and Kai
Havertz.
Bright start from the Blues
The game began in hot and muggy conditions in
north-east Italy, resulting💱 in a fairly slow start as both teams eased into the match,
with Chelsea comfortable to control possession from the💱 back.
However, when we moved
the ball into the final third the Blues were looking sharp, as good work from Kante
💱 twice threatened to open up the Udinese defence. There was a big penalty shout early
on, when Havertz went down💱 under a challenge in the box after Mount had won possession
high up the pitch, but the referee waved away💱 the German’s appeals.
Instead, it was a
smart combination between Mount and Sterling which provided the first chance of the
game,💱 just shy of 10 minutes in. A clever pass inside by Mount was perfectly timed into
Sterling’s path, allowing him💱 to hurdle a challenge without breaking stride and get
free in the area, but goalkeeper Marco Silvestri was quick off💱 his line to block
Sterling’s shot from close range.
By the time the clock showed 15 minutes played,
Chelsea were well💱 in control, but Thiago Silva had to show all his experience to
prevent Isaac Success getting free on the end💱 of a quick counter, expertly positioning
himself between the striker and the ball to shepherd it back to Mendy. Our💱 goalkeeper
was called into his first real involvement shortly afterwards, although it was
comfortable for him to gather Roberto Pereyra’s💱 shot from range.
Breakthrough
arrives
Despite how dangerous our front three had looked in the early stages, when we
found the opening💱 goal our start deserved it was from a less obvious source. Kante,
showing no signs of rust in his first💱 appearance in pre-season, scored a fine effort
all of his own making. The Frenchman drove out of midfield in the💱 left channel, evading
the Udinese players, and continued all the way to the edge of the box before striking a
💱 left-footed shot low beyond the goalkeeper and in off the foot of the far post.
The
Chelsea players were starting to💱 enjoy themselves now and Silvestri needed to make two
saves in quick succession to keep our lead at one, first💱 denying Mount after a clever
turn and run by Sterling, then beating away a Havertz effort at his near post.
The
💱 encouraging interplay between our front three of Mount, Sterling and Havertz, with
Sterling staying central but dropping deep while the💱 other two stayed high on the
Udinese defensive line, was causing the home team all kinds of problems, as was💱 our
high press when they attempted to play out from the back. Mount in particular was
winning possession in dangerous💱 positions frequently, and was unlucky not to see a blue
shirt on the end of a low drive across goal💱 on one such occasion.
Exchanging blows
before the break
The pace dropped slightly after the water break midway through the
first half,💱 but we were no less dominant for it and our superiority was underlined by
Sterling’s first goal in a Chelsea💱 shirt. Much of the credit must go to Jorginho, who
found his team-mate in the box with a lovely pass.💱 Sterling waited for the goalkeeper
to blink first, although Silverstri managed to block the initial effort, but our
forward has💱 a second chance at the rebound. It briefly looked like the defender would
get back to clear, but the ball💱 bounced just beyond his reach and over the
line.
However, before the break, Udinese pulled a goal back on the counter,💱 as two
members of their former Watford legion combined. Pereyra broke free down the right but
Mendy got down to💱 palm away his low shot. It seemed he might claw out Deulofeu’s follow
up on the rebound too, but the💱 keeper’s momentum was taking him the wrong way and
despite getting a touch to the ball he couldn’t prevent it💱 going in.
The first half
then stuttered to a close as play was twice interrupted when Sterling needed treatment
after being💱 bundled over by Udinese players, with the forward looking less than
impressed as he left the pitch at the break💱 rubbing his back.
Chelsea on top
Somewhat
surprisingly for a pre-season friendly in such humid conditions, there were no
half-time changes from💱 either side and the pace briefly stepped up another level at the
start of the second half, as both teams💱 pushed forward at speed looking for the next
goal.
It didn’t produce much in the way of chances, though, apart from💱 a driven Mount
cross which was theatrically beaten away by Silvestri. The game soon settled back into
a familiar pattern💱 of Chelsea dominance and we twice went close to extending our lead.
First it was another piece of solo brilliance💱 from Kante, firing wide from outside the
box, before a move involving all our front three ended with Sterling attempting💱 a
back-heel towards goal, but the defenders had recovered in time to block.
Havertz will
be wondering how he didn’t find💱 the back of the net when Alonso’s volley towards goal
found the German four yards out but he couldn’t adjust💱 his body and sent the ball
straight to the keeper, although the linesman’s flag was raised for offside
anyway.
There was💱 still the occasional threat from Udinese, as shown when Success
dragged a shot wide from a promising position on the💱 left, but Mendy was largely
untested. We were still having things mostly our own way, even if another goal
continued💱 to evade us when Sterling’s deflected strike from the edge of the box hit the
post and bounced out.
If anything💱 the Blues were guilty of being a little too
unselfish, with Mount twice opting to pass when he might have💱 shot himself, so as it
was a Sterling header over the bar was the closest we came to adding to💱 our lead before
the second-half drink break.
Easing across the line
When play resumed, Tuchel opted to
bring on a trio of💱 substitutes, with Koulibaly, James and Havertz making way. That saw
Emerson Palmieri operating on the left of our back three,💱 Callum Hudson-Odoi at
wing-back and Harvey Vale coming into the front three.
It nearly paid off instantly as
Hudson-Odoi met a💱 fizzed ball to the back post by Sterling, but the substitute’s
first-time shot was narrowly wide and he was flagged💱 offside afterwards.
There was
little more in the way of action at either end as both sides looked relatively content
with💱 their evening's efforts, right up until the last minute when Mount finally
extended our lead to a 3-1 scoreline which💱 more accurately reflected the game. It was
substitute Hudson-Odoi who twisted free on the right and drilled low across goal,
💱 leaving Mount a simple finish from point-blank range.
That left no doubt that it was
the Blues who left the pitch💱 the happiest after securing a comfortable win in Italy,
even if we would have liked to have turned our dominance💱 into a more emphatic
scoreline.
What’s next?
We stay in Italy one more day for a second friendly against
Udinese behind closed💱 doors tomorrow, with kick-off at 10am UK time. That game will
also be shown live on the official Chelsea website💱 and The 5th Stand app.
Then it is
time for the competitive action to get under way back in England, when💱 we travel to
Everton for our opening Premier League fixture of the 2024/23 season at 5.30pm next
Saturday.
Chelsea (3-4-3): Mendy;💱 Azpilicueta (c), Thiago Silva, Koulibaly (Emerson
72); James (Hudson-Odoi 72), Kante, Jorginho (Gilmour 84), Alonso; Havertz (Vale 72),
Sterling (Kenedy💱 84), Mount
Unused sub: Kepa
Scorers: Kante 20, Sterling 37, Mount
90
Udinese (5-3-2): Silvestri; Soppy, Benkovic, Bijol (Nuytinck 68), Masina, Udogie
(Festy💱 87); Pereyra, Makengo, Walace (Lovric 84); Success (Nesterovski 84),
Deulofeu
Unused subs: Padelli, Piana, Abankwah, Perez, Palumbo, Ebosse, Samardzic,
Pussetto, Guessand,💱 Cocetta, Pafundi
Scorer: Deulofeu 42
Referee: Michael
Fabbri
Attendance: 11,776
