A moment of magic separated the ‘Old Lady’ from the always cool and chic team from West London.
That moment arrived in the 68th minute when Edon Zhegrova curled an absolutely beautiful shot with his left foot to give the Serie A Giants a lead, to which they held, to win the Herbalgy Trophy.
The domed interior, a few days earlier, protecting the crowd from the relentless rain but now a protective ‘Cushion’ from the heat.
43,575 fans entered via the turnstiles and at least, 90 percent, were supporting the Blues.
The game, feisty in parts, had very few chances for both sides. Chelsea posed the greater threat though, for all their possession, created very little.
The stand out performers for Chelsea, picked from one of the largest squads at present, included Geovany Quenda and Marcos Palestra. Both drove forward with silky interplay which sadly yielded very little in return.
The Return of the Prodigal Son
For the majority of the blues in the crowd, the loudest cheer of the night was for the return of Mykhailo Mudryk. The number ‘43’ finally came back from the wilderness and when his number was raised and he entered the fray, rapturous cheers echoed around the stadium.
Mudryk had ‘done’ his time and he is no doubt, for better or worse, humbled and wiser for the experience.
A new dawn for Chelsea under the new stewardship of Xabi Alonso. The west London side gained a reputation for organised chaos yet still pulling in the trophies.
‘FIFA World Club cup champions?’ Which other’s fans can sing that?
Cole Palmer, overlooked for the World Cup, sat out this friendly though not to fret, as Chelsea’s team list was so long that they could have fielded two sides; for whom has the luxury of having FOUR reserve goalkeepers.
Palmer, a divisive creative genius, had sustained, according to Alonso, a ‘Whack’ and could not play.
“Palmer had a ‘whack’, a contact injury that he had against Spurs”
A New Dawn for Chelsea
Alonso addressed the fact that his time at Real Madrid was not ideal and looked forward to new challenges.
“You need to learn quickly and you need to adapt to the players that you have and create something together with the club and players. We have been together for three weeks so it is early days to talk about everything but we are taking little steps forward and there will be many more we will take forward for sure.”
New signing, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer, together is an exciting prospect and Alonso relished the chance for both to play together.
“Both will be important players and will play a big role in our team on the attacking side and they have the creativity to be a threat when they receive the ball against the last line and they will score goals and make assists. They will create a good relationship to play that role.”
Juventus edged past Chelsea though this is expected from the Grand Old Lady. There are standards and expectations to be met.
Gallery Photo: Santiago Kwok
