Chelsea Crushes AC Milan 4-1, Delivering Brutal Welcome to Modric on His Debut
Chelsea's final pre-season match of their abbreviated preparation schedule was essentially decided within the first 20 minutes.
AC Milan's unfortunate center-back Andrei Coubiş deflected the ball into his own goal in the fifth minute, watching helplessly as Reece James's curling set-piece delivery ricocheted off his legs and past the outstretched Mike Maignan.
Less than two minutes later, the former Chelsea target was retrieving the ball from his net again. João Pedro provided the finishing touch this time, directing Pedro Neto's perfectly weighted cross into the far post to extend his impressive run in Chelsea colors.
Pedro was responsible for Coubiş's ejection in the 19th minute. Chelsea's summer signing positioned himself between the Romanian defender and Robert Sánchez's long ball forward before going down. Pedro seemed to be clutching his opponent's jersey, yet Coubiş received the punishment and earned that rarest of occurrences: a red card in a friendly match.
Even with a man disadvantage for over 70 minutes, Milan created opportunities at a bright Stamford Bridge. Luka Modrić's halftime entrance for his unofficial Milan debut generated excitement among spectators, but Liam Delap would quickly extinguish any comeback hopes.
The former Ipswich Town striker, who had overtaken Nicolas Jackson only to find himself behind Pedro in Chelsea's forward hierarchy, converted a penalty in the 67th minute to seal a 3–0 advantage. Estêvão earned the penalty in another impressive brief appearance just two days after shining in his debut for the club.
Youssouf Fofana pulled one back for Milan with a composed run into Chelsea's penalty area in the 70th minute, potentially providing Enzo Maresca with additional justification for his claim that the Blues require a new center-back following Levi Colwill's ACL setback.
Delap guaranteed the home side would celebrate last, firing a first-time effort into the bottom corner in the 90th minute. Whether his late double will secure Delap a starting position for Chelsea's Premier League opener against Crystal Palace next weekend remains uncertain.
Chelsea Player Ratings vs. Milan (4-2-3-1)
*Ratings provided by FotMob*
Player | Rating (Out of 10) |
|---|---|
GK: Robert Sánchez | 6.9 |
RB: Reece James | 8.1 |
CB: Tosin Adarabioyo | 7.5 |
CB: Trevoh Chalobah | 6.5 |
LB: Marc Cucurella | 6.8 |
CM: Enzo Fernández | 6.7 |
CM: Moisés Caicedo | 7.3 |
AM: Cole Palmer | 7.4 |
RW: Pedro Neto | 7.6 |
ST: João Pedro | 7.9 |
LW: Jamie Gittens | 6.3 |
SUB: Josh Acheampong (57' for Chalobah) | 6.7 |
SUB: Andrey Santos (60' for Fernández) | 6.9 |
SUB: Liam Delap (60' for Pedro) | 8.5 |
SUB: Malo Gusto (61' for James) | 6.3 |
SUB: Estêvão (61' for Palmer) | 7.0 |
SUB: Reggie Walsh (73' for Neto) | 6.3 |
SUB: Tyrique George (73' for Gittens) | 6.2 |
SUB: Jorrel Hato (73' for Cucurella) | 6.2 |
SUB: Dario Essugo (73' for Caicedo) | 6.7 |
Subs not used: Filip Jörgensen (GK), Gabriel Slonina (GK), Aaron Anselmino, Sam Rak-Sakyi, Genesis Antwil