Chelsea's Academy Player
of the Year Dominic Solanke scored his 42nd goal of the season as Jose
Mourinho's side huffed and puffed to a 1-0 victory against the Thailand
All-Stars.
The 17-year-old striker
showed his finishing prowess once again with a brilliant first-time volley from
a Loic Remy flick as the Blues youngster made the most of his time to shine in
Bangkok.
Jose Mourinho opted to
field two completely different sides for each half as Chelsea starlets Ola
Aina, Charlie Colkett and Jake Clarke-Salter were amongst the starting cast
given a chance to impress.
Chelsea youngster Dominic Solanke wheels away in celebration after giving his side a 1-0 lead
Solanke kept his eye on the ball to fire home after a flick from French forward Loic Remy
he Chelsea players congratulate Solanke, who scored his 42nd goal of the season during the first half
The 17-year-old reacts after missing an opportunity to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead against Thailand All-Stars
The Blues started
brightly with young forward Izzy Brown looking the most likely to make
something happen as he pressed the Thailand defence.
And it didn't take long
for Brown's academy team-mate Solanke to find the net after a fine run and
cross from Aina was helped on by Remy, leaving the young forward to do the rest
with a right-foot volley into the bottom corner.
Despite the promise of
an early goal, chances were few and far between during the opening 45 minutes
as the game was broken up by several water breaks to help the Chelsea players
battle through the Bangkok heat.
Chelsea youngster Jeremie Boga controls the ball during the post-season tour match in Bangkok
Blues boss Jose Mourinho (right) looks on as his substutes warm-up during the first 45 minutes
Just
before the break, Boga and Remy led a counter-attack as the former QPR forward
played in Solanke, who had made a brilliant run towards the right of Thailand's
penalty area.
The
17-year-old showed his confidence in front of goal with a delicate chip but was
unfortunate to see his effort drift agonizingly wide.
The
second half saw Mourinho send out a completely different team from front to
back as the 40,000 fans inside the Rajamangala Stadium were treated to their
first glimpse of star names John Terry, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard.
Despite
several typically nice touches from Hazard, the little Belgian struggled to
make an impact as the raft of changes left the game lacking any rhythm.
Thai Chelsea fans turned up in huge numbers to support their team at the Rajamangala Stadium
Solanke (left) vies for the ball with Thailand All-Stars Chutipon Tongtae during the friendly clash
Belgian youngster Charly Musonda looked lively during his substitute appearance
Injury-plagued Chelsea striker Diego Costa came off holding his hamstring in the 81st minute
Eden Hazard (right) struggled to make an impact after coming on for Izzy Brown at half-time
Hazard's young
compatriot Charly Musonda looked a constant threat and came close to giving
Chelsea a 2-0 advantage after latching onto a fine pass from Nemanja Matic.
Unfortunately for the
visitors, Musonda's 20-yard strike was deflected just wide.
'The most important
thing is that the people our happy,' Blues boss Mourinho told Chelsea TV after
the first of two post-season friendlies.
'To have around 40,000
Blues is magnificent. We felt the responsibility to win - we cannot come here
and lose.
'We didn't bring some of
our important players but the kids did well.'
The Chelsea faithful
won't have enjoyed seeing Costa, who had been a half-time substitute for
Solanke, limp off with what could have been another twinge in his hamstring,
but the Blues youngsters certainly did enough to prove the future is bright.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho salutes the 40,000 fans inside the stadium following Chelsea's 1-0 win
The Chelsea squad were awarded with medals for the 'celebration match' victory on Saturday
Mourinho was sure to praise the 'magnificent' support before his side head to Australia
No comments:
Post a Comment