Pre-season Friendly – Ajax 3-1 Chelsea
Chelsea played their second pre-season game of the tournament against Ajax, who finished second in the Eredivisie last season but it was the Dutch club that ran out as winners in the game played at the Amsterdam Arena.
Chelsea fielded a very young side, with a number of players from the FA Youth Cup winning side starting the match, but it was the Dutch side who got off to the better start, opening the scoring in the 6th second after a cross from Christian Eriksen was turned into his own goal by Jeffrey Bruma. The defender was very unfortunate as his header left the Chelsea goalkeeper.
The Chelsea back four consisted of two players from the FA Youth Cup winning side with Billy Clifford joining Bruma at the back. Patrick van Aanholt played as the left full back, with Ashley Cole still to return after being involved in the World Cup and Yuri Zhirkov out injured. Ryan Bertrand partnered Bruma in the center of defense.
Chelsea equalized in the 25th minute through Daniel Sturridge after an excellent ball from John Obi Mikel that put Di Santo through to the goal. The Argentinean almost lost possession but luckily for Chelsea, the ball fell to Daniel Sturridge, who finished impressively with his left foot past Martin Stekelenburg.
The 1-1 score-line, however, did not last very long as Ajax took the lead after a goalkeeping error from Ross Turnbull. The Chelsea goalkeeper, who may have to start between the sticks for Chelsea if Petr Cech fails to recover in time for the Premier League season, came out to collect a routine ball but he failed to keep a hold of the ball and it was a very easy finish for Siem De Jong, which put Ajax 2-1 ahead and firmly in control of the game.
At half time Chelsea brought on Scott Sinclair and Nathaniel Chalobah for Josh McEachran and Billy Clifford. It was yet another run out for the 15 year old Chalobah, who looks to be one of the players to watch out for after a good display against an Ajax side with a number of first team regulars. Hilario replaced Turnbull at the goal as Carlo Ancelotti had promised before the game.
Ancelotti made a string of changes as the half wore on and it was good to see Michael Essien complete his 73 minutes without any problems. The Ghanaian has struggled in the last few seasons with a number of injuries but it looks like this season has gotten off to a smooth start for the former Lyon player who will have take on more responsibility after the departure of Michael Ballack and the likely exit of Deco.
Although Chelsea tried hard to equalize, the young side found it difficult to penetrate a very strong looking Ajax side. It was the Dutch side, in fact, who scored once again with almost the last kick of the game. Korean International Hyun Jun Suk, who was impressive throughout the second half, had a simple tap in after good work from Daley Blind and Roly Bonevacia.
After the game Ancelotti played down the significance of the defeat and said that he was pleased with the performances of the young players. On Ross Turnbull, the Italian claimed he was still confidence in his abilities and errors in pre-season did not mean very much. Next up for Chelsea is another pre-season friendly against the German club, Eintracht Frankfurt on the 1st of August.
Tags: