A.C. Milan 0 – 2 Chelsea

Kevin-Prince Boateng in action for Milan observed by Kevin De Bruyne

A.C. Milan 0 – 2 Chelsea

by Chris Ballard at the Met Life Stadium, in New Jersey

Chelsea continued their flawless preseason – and set up a mouth-watering tie with Real Madrid in Miami on Tuesday – with a well deserved 2-0 victory over AC Milan at MetLife Stadium in the Guinness International Champions Cup.

With the venue having filled up a bit, though nowhere near to capacity after the earlier Valencia-Inter Milan tie, a crowd of just under 40,000 saw a Chelsea display full of fluidity and attacking prowess. Even after the inevitable raft of second-half substitutes, it was generally the English side who pressed, and scored a goal of real quality in each half, first from Kevin De Bruyne and then late on from new signing Andre Schurrle.

The Chelsea onslaught began early, with the impressive Branislav Ivanovic backheeling a De Bruyne cross that Milan goalkeeper Abbiati did well to divert from danger. Three minutes later, Oscar hit a shot that just went wide of the Milan goal.

Milan, for their part, were trying to put pressure on the Chelsea defence, but shots from Balotelli, Boateng and El Shaarawy all failed to force Petr Cech into a save, before a late intervention from Ivanovic put a Muntari cross come shot wide with Rossoneri players – among them Mario Balotelli – lurking.

However, Chelsea went ahead after 30 minutes thanks to a beautiful counter attacking goal. Eden Hazard surged towards the Milan penalty area, and taking advantage of an excellent defence-distracting run from Demba Ba, slid a pass into Kevin De Bruyne, who calling sent his shot across Abbiati to leave him with no chance.

Mario Balotelli had little to shout about in Milan’s defeat

After the goal, Chelsea asserted themselves further, keeping Milan firmly penned in their own half.

When the second period started, each team had substituted several players, to the extent that this became very much a game of two halves.

It wasn’t that different, though, with the attacking trio of Juan Mata, Fernando Torres and Victor Moses all looking to make valuable contribution.

Of these three, it was Moses who provided the most cutting edge, and his willingness to take on defenders bodes well for the coming season.

Again, despite Milan’s efforts to respond, they were unable to create any meaningful chances, whereas Chelsea continued to impress.

Club captain John Terry – also on at half time – narrowly went wide with a volley following a corner, and Moses was unfortunate not to cap a sterling run with a goal, as his shot went high and wide.

A minute later, Mata again exposed the weakness down the right and his shot required a smart save from Abbiati. It was Mata who had the crowd on its feet again with a free kick in the 70th minute that grazed the top of the net.

With the game winding down, Moses skipped clear on the right, and chipped in a ball that Andre Schurrle volleyed in with aplomb to make the scoreline reflect the game better.

Both of these teams now head to Miami, with Chelsea playing Real Madrid in the Championship game, and AC Milan will take on Everton to decide 5th place.

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