Chelsea recovered some of their pride following their FA Cup final loss to Arsenal two months ago as a Michy Batshuayi masterclass helped Antonio Conte's men beat the Gunners 3-0 in Beijing on Saturday.
The Belgian first set up Willian for the opener in the 40th minute before he doubled Chelsea's advantage with a goal of his own two minutes later.
Batshuayi then smashed home a superb effort shortly after the break to seal a 3-0 friendly victory, which will boost Chelsea ahead of their games against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, will be worried at the ease with which the Premier League champions defeated his side.
It was just under two months ago when Arsenal got one over their London rivals Chelsea with a 2-1 FA Cup final win at Wembley - a game the Gunners seriously impressed in.
Indeed, Chelsea defender David Luiz told Standard Sport this week that he kept his FA Cup losers' medal to serve as a reminder of how he didn't want to feel next season.
Perhaps that loss and their below-par performance at Wembley was still in the minds of Conte's side on Saturday as Chelsea started their friendly against Arsenal with much intensity and urgency.
In fact, they could have gone ahead in just the seventh minute when Ainsley Maitland-Niles' sloppy touch allowed Willian to steal back possession before the Brazilian's effort flew just inches wide of the far post.
Arsenal were firmly on the back foot, but were gifted a chance to open the scoring when Mesut Ozil sent a cross in from the right which Aaron Ramsey slid in to try and convert but instead saw his effort miss the target.
But it proved the only real chance for the Gunners in the first period as Conte's side went on to stun Arsenal with two goals in two minutes.
Shortly after David Ospina had made a double save to deny Willian and Batshuayi, he could do little when the former was fed by the latter and he sent an effort in off the post.
Batshuayi, who had harshly had a goal ruled out for offside earlier in the half, then doubled Chelsea's lead when he latched onto N'Golo Kante's pass and curled in a superb shot past Ospina.
The Belgian striker's performance will certainly have given Conte something to think about particularly after the arrival of striker Alvaro Morata, who is expected to be first choice next season.
But if his goal and assist weren't enough to make Conte think twice about sending him out on loan this summer then his second goal of the night may well have.
Marcos Alonso did most of the hard work for Chelsea's third when he made a fine run down the left - which left Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain lying on the floor - before squaring for Batshuayi, who thumped the ball in from long-range four minutes after the break.
Arsenal attempted to respond and went close through Francis Coquelin, who drove a shot just over the bar but it didn't change the fact that they were second best to Chelsea.
Olivier Giroud was brought on in an attempt to change things, although he was only just allowed on after an administrative error meant he wasn't named on the original teamsheet.
But the striker couldn't make an impact and, despite a late effort off the post from Donyell Malen, Chelsea walked away from the friendly with the derby bragging rights.
Watch The Match Highlights
No comments:
Post a Comment