OneFootball
Phil Costa·10 July 2019
OneFootball
Phil Costa·10 July 2019
Chelsea started the Frank Lampard era and their 2019/20 pre-season with a 1-1 draw against Irish side Bohemians.
Lampard selected a strong first-half side that featured Cesar Azpilicueta, Pedro and Michy Batshuayi, and it was the latter who put the Blues’ ahead.
A long range strike from Kenedy struck the Belgian, who fought off his marker to fire home from six yards.
The rest of the half saw Chelsea dominate possession with 18-year-old Ethan Ampadu influential in midfield.
First-half XI:Â Caballero; Azpilicueta, Ampadu, Guehi, Sterling; Gallagher, Drinkwater; Palmer, Kenedy, Pedro, Batshuayi.
Lampard shuffled his pack for the second-half and made 11 changes, affording opportunities to Trevoh Chalobah, Billy Gilmour and Lewis Baker.
Gilmour impressed with some nice touches in dangerous areas, while Kurt Zouma – who captained the side – was solid in defence.
The Blues, however, were unable to create anything of note and paid the price late on after Eric Molloy equalised for the hosts.
Lampard will be disappointed not to have won but ultimately his players were put through a good workout in Dublin.
Second-half XI:Â Cumming; Maatsen, Zappacosta, Zouma; Chalobah, Gilmour, Bakayoko, Piazon; Brown, Baker, Ugbo