Chelsea vs Barcelona. International Champions Cup.
FedExField.
Wednesday 29 July 2015 10:19, UK
Chelsea ended their US tour with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out success over Barcelona, after a 2-2 draw in Washington.
Eden Hazard gave Chelsea the lead in an entertaining first half with a fine solo effort, on the same day he earned lavish praise from his boss Jose Mourinho, before goals from Luis Suarez and Sandro turned the match on its head.
However, hesitancy from substitute goalkeeper Jordi Masip allowed Gary Cahill to bravely equalise late on for the Blues, before Thibaut Courtois's save allowed Loic Remy to score the winning penalty in the shoot-out.
The result sees the Blues end their US tour without a win in regulation time, and with Diego Costa looking to be carrying an injury when he was withdrawn, Arsenal will be fancying their chances ahead of Sunday’s Community Shield.
Mourinho named an experienced-looking line-up, and immediately gained the initiative, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen forced into a fine save from a Kurt Zouma header early on.
But it wasn’t long before the Blues edged in front, and it was that man Hazard who showed his manager was right to insist the Belgian is at the top of his game.
Picking up the ball in the middle of the pitch, posing no apparent danger, the talented forward glided through the heart of the Barca defence before sliding the ball past Ter Stegen.
The fantastic strike forced the Catalans to up their game, and in Luis Suarez they had a potent attacking threat that the Chelsea rearguard was struggling to cope with.
Luckily for Mourinho, Courtois was in fine form, denying Suarez on three separate occasions, displaying some superb reflexes to keep out the Uruguayan striker.
Down the other end, Oscar hit the crossbar with a free-kick and Ter Stegen made several more fine stops to keep the score to just 1-0 at the interval.
After the break, the Blues shot themselves in the foot when in command, as Suarez equalised on 51 minutes.
Cesar Azpilicueta completely missed a header, leaving Suarez free, but with plenty still to do. Undeterred, Suarez cut back inside and chipped delightfully over Courtois to equalise, despite Zouma’s best efforts to clear off the line.
Numerous changes slowed the tempo somewhat, but Sandro looked to have snatched victory for Barcelona on 66 minutes as he curled a sublime effort past the despairing dive of Courtois.
However, Gary Cahill’s late header levelled proceedings on 85 minutes, just when the Blues looked to have ran out of ideas.
As the loose ball dropped out of the sky, Masip and Cahill went up for it, the replacement Barca 'keeper completely missed his punch, allowing Cahill to nod into the empty net, getting a bloody nose for his troubles.
The penalty shoot-out was pretty straightforward for the Blues, as Alen Halilovic was over confident with his penalty for Barca, chipping onto the crossbar, before Gerard Pique’s spot kick was saved by Courtois.
That left Remy with the task of beating Masip to finish the tour on a high, and the Frenchman duly obliged, giving Blues fans something to cheer for from what has been a tough trip for the Premier League champions.
