Western Sydney Wanderers 4-6 Chelsea: Joao Pedro scores hat-trick as Xabi Alonso marks first game with bonkers 10-goal thriller

Joao Pedro scored a nine-minute hat-trick as Xabi Alonso began his Chelsea reign with a ridiculous 6-4 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers in pre-season.

Chelsea led through 17-year-old Dastan Satpaev in only the sixth minute, yet managed to fall behind three times to the A-League side before substitute Joao Pedro showed his class with a late treble in Sydney.

Alonso named a youthful side in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Tosin and Liam Delap the only significant senior experience in the starting XI before introducing the likes of Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro, Estevao and Levi Colwill midway through the second half.

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Chelsea's first two goals, the second coming from Dario Essugo, were brilliant moves from back to front on a bumpy pitch used primarily for rugby league matches, and were a sign of the style Alonso will hope to implement at Stamford Bridge.

But their defending was poor and after being level at the break, Alonso's side were trailing in the 64th minute by the time he brought on his stars, deploying Palmer in the No 10 role with Estevao on the right and Jamie Gittens on the other side.

Gittens levelled two minutes after his introduction for 3-3, yet Estevao's slack pass left youngster Reggie Watson short deep inside their own half, and Western Sydney substitute Awan Lual punished the error to restore their lead with little over 10 minutes remaining.

But then the Joao Pedro show started. He finished expertly from inside the box to bring Chelsea level again, slotted home to give them the lead after being played in by Palmer and then tapped in his third from a couple of yards at a corner to seal a remarkable hat-trick and the win.

The key moments from Sydney

• 6: GOAL! Teenager Satpaev scores the first goal under Alonso with a superb finish at the end of a wonderful Chelsea move.
• 14: EQUALISER! Western Sydney level things up as Pantazapoulos nods in at the back post at a corner.
• 32: GOAL! The hosts take a shock lead as Hammond takes advantage of poor Chelsea defending to slot home.
• 38: CHELSEA EQUALISE! Another lovely move unlocks Western Sydney as Essugo exchanges one-touch passes with Walsh before finishing.
• 46: SUBS! Only two changes at the break for Chelsea as Kellyman and Nicoll-Jazuli replace Kavuma-McQueen goalscorer Essugo.
• 62: GOAL! Scicluna restores Western Sydney's lead by finishing into the bottom left corner after a blocked clearance falls to him.

• 64: CHELSEA SUBS! Alonso makes nine changes, bringing on Sanchez, Palestra, Colwill, Fofana, Anselmino, Estevao, Palmer, Gittens, Joao Pedro.
• 66: GOAL! Joao Pedro makes an instant impact, dribbling into the area and pulling the ball back for Gittens to make it 3-3.
• 78: GOAL! The hosts restake the lead for a third time as Lual capitalise on Estevao and Walsh's error at the back to score.
• 80: GOAL! Joao Pedro quickly levels again for Chelsea with a smart finish from just inside the box.

• 85: GOAL! Chelsea lead for the first time since the sixth minute as Palmer plays in Joao Pedro to finish.
• 89: HAT-TRICK! Joao Pedro nets his third in nine minutes to seal a dramatic Chelsea victory.

What did we learn from Alonso's debut?

Sky Sports' Ron Walker:

There's always a word of caution about reading too much into the opening game of pre-season, especially with so many first-team players missing for Chelsea.

But there are certainly a few takeaways from Xabi Alonso's debut in the dugout...

• Flexible formation - Chelsea defended in a four but with the ball, Landon Emenalo bombed forward down the left and often overlapped Dastan Satpaev down that flank. It did leave Chelsea open at the back, though.
• Youngsters impress - Both Reggie Watson and Reggie Walsh looked sharp and linked up well in midfield, with the former the only player to complete 90 minutes. Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli also enjoyed a bright half-time cameo while Dastan Satpaev started brightly but faded
• First-teamers' sharpness - A number of Chelsea regulars only got half an hour to show their stuff but Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro looked immediately up to speed and had little rust to shake off. You can't argue with a nine-minute hat-trick
• Defensive concerns - Josh Acheampong and Tosin were two of Chelsea's more senior players to start the game in Sydney but both found life difficult against a side who finished bottom of the A-League last season. They were offered little cover by the visitors' midfield at times.

Alonso: We need to manage games better

Chelsea head coach Xabi Alonso said:

"It has been a very useful friendly that we can learn a lot from today. There were moments when we were struggling to find solutions, and we needed this. The positive is that we corrected them, but there were moments when the game management is something that we can learn from today.

"When they were pressing so high, it was tough to find the solution from inside, to have a different understanding of what's happening, and to make those changes in the game.

"It's something that will happen often in all the games, and the more situations we struggle with and find solutions, the better team we will be. For that, I think that this friendly is going to be useful for the future, and as well for minutes for everyone."

Chelsea's pre-season fixtures

July 28: Chelsea 6-4 Western Sydney Wanderers - Sydney August 1: Chelsea vs Tottenham, Sydney, 10.45am August 5: Chelsea vs Juventus, Hong Kong, 12.30pm August 8: Chelsea vs AC Milan - Jakarta, 1pm August 9: Johor Darul Ta'zim vs Chelsea - Johor, 1pm August 15: Chelsea vs Real Sociedad - Stamford Bridge, 2pm

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