Chelsea 4-1 AC Milan: Liam Delap brace fires Blues to pre-season victory over ten-man Rossoneri

Yahoo

2 days ago

Chelsea completed a perfect pre-season campaign at Stamford Bridge with a 4-1 win over ten-man AC Milan.
Barely 48 hours after dispatching Bayer Leverkusen 2-0, the Blues were back in action against Italian opposition, with goals from Liam Delap and Joao Pedro confirming a second win in as many outings.
Much has been made of Chelsea's rushed preparations for the new Premier League season, which kicks off next week, but they showed again today that the squad's considerable depth may be sufficient to minimise the effects of a gruelling Club World Cup campaign.
There were fresh injury worries for the hosts, though, as Trevoh Chalobah hobbled off with an ankle injury in the second half. With Levi Colwill set to be absent for months with an ACL injury, Enzo Maresca will be sweating on the defender's fitness.
A chaotic first half ended with Chelsea firmly in control, sporting a one-man advantage and a two-goal lead. Their dominance was due in no small part to the contributions of Andrei Coubis, a Milan academy graduate who endured an unenviable senior debut.
With five minutes played, he turned Reece James' cross into his own net, and was perhaps unlucky to do so after Trevoh Chalobah missed his attempted header.
Chelsea doubled their advantage just three minutes later, as Joao Pedro added another goal to his Chelsea catalogue, heading home from Pedro Neto's lofted pass.
Coubis' afternoon then went from bad to worse. He scrambled to recover as Pedro broke the line and bore down on goal, coming up with a desperate tackle better suited to a rugby pitch and was promptly dismissed, sent for an early shower just 18 minutes into his first-team bow.
Cole Palmer went close with a pair of well-hit free-kicks and a close-range scissor-kick, and was unlucky not to add to the Blues' advantage before the break.
So too was Rafael Leao, Milan's only credible threat in the first period, who forced a pair of shots saved by Robert Sanchez before seeing a goal ruled out for offside.
Milan were improved somewhat in the second half by the introduction of Luka Modric, who added much-needed rhythm and composure to the side.
After a spell of pressure from the visitors, though, Estevao's introduction off the bench had Chelsea back in the driver's seat. Mere minutes after his introduction, he was hauled down in the penalty area, earning a spot-kick which Delap fired under Mike Maignan to extend the hosts' lead.
The advantage was pegged back to two moments later as Alexis Saelemaekers danced off the left flank and played Youssouf Fofana in behind. The Frenchman made no mistake, though his goal was a mere consolation.
Delap added a fourth with seconds remaining, smashing home first-time from Andrey Santos' flicked pass to complete the Blues' pre-season preparations.
Their attention will now turn to the 2025-26 Premier League campaign, which kicks off as Crystal Palace visit Stamford Bridge a week today.