Five
games, three losses, no wins. It’s hardly the form of champions
but Jose
Mourinho is playing down Chelsea’s stuttering preparation for the
new
campaign.
Gonzalo
Rodriguez scored the only goal of the game as
Fiorentina recorded an
unlikely win against a much-changed Blues
side, for whom
Kurt Zouma was
fortunate not to be sent off for a ludicrous chest-high
challenge late
on.
Blues
boss Mourinho was unfazed by a lack of momentum
going into Saturday’s
Premier League opener against Swansea City,
again referring to these
preparatory fixtures as ‘training sessions’
after the game.
Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma smashed into the helpless Ricardo
Bagadur with just minutes left on the clock
The Frenchman landed on top of Fiorentina defender Ricardo
Bagadur after clattering into the Croat during the friendly match
France international Zouma is cautioned by referee David Coote following his reckless foul on Bagadur (pictured on the ground)
A handful of Fiorentina stars confront
Zouma after his poor
challenge on their team-mate, who continues to
look in pain while on the floor
Former Manchester United striker
Radamel Falcao failed to
make any real impact on his first match at
Stamford Bridge as a Chelsea player
Chelsea summer signing Asmir Begovic looks dismayed as
Fiorentina's players celebrate Gonzalo Rodriguez's 34th-minute goal
‘It was a good training session,’ the Portuguese coach said
. ‘Some players had 60 minutes; those who played Sunday only had 30.
‘The
real football is on Saturday and today we couldn’t face
this game in
another way. Hopefully we have no injuries. I saw
(Eden) Hazard limping
but I don’t think it was a problem.
‘So no injuries and 90 minutes against a competitive team that played
for a result and gave us a good training session.
‘I am happy. It’s a long season… 10 months of competition and
I’m happy with where we are.’
With
his pre-match selection, Mourinho seemingly made a point
of how
stretched his squad is three days before they kick
off their title
defence.
Forward Bertrand Traore started at left back as Mourinho made
wholesale changes from their Community Shield defeat by Arsenal.
Mourinho
said after Sunday’s defeat that he needed two more
defenders but with
moves for John Stones and Augsburg’s
Baba Rahman yet to go through he
went with Traore on one
side of defence and youngster Ola Aina on the
other.
The
unusually youthful champions also included Ruben
Loftus-Cheek in an XI
which struggled for rhythm from the
off and conceded most of the
first-half chances before
Rodriguez’s goal.
Loftus-Cheek
was the brightest spark for the hosts, given more
freedom by the
presence of John Obi Mikel alongside him in
a two-man midfield, and he
headed one chance over before
seeing a shot blocked after jinking past
two defenders on the left.
But
it was the Italians who were applying the pressure and when
skipper
Rodriguez tucked in a rebound under Asmir Begovic in the
33rd minute
it
was well deserved, moments after Matias Vecino had hammered
the
crossbar.
Serie A doesn’t start for another week and a half but it was
clear which side was in better tune under the floodlights in SW6.
The
game was given even more of a pre-season feel
at half-time when
Mourinho made four changes, Nemanja Matic’s
the best received
by an
expectant crowd of 41,435 seemingly unfazed by
the tube strike that
would
have left many with drawn-out journeys home.
There
was more fluency after the break at least, and Juan
Cuadrado was pulled
down by Facundo Roncaglia when he
fashioned a rare sight of goal. But
the free-kick earned was
inexplicably headed wide by an unmarked
Branislav Ivanovic.
Bosnia international Begovic was
unable to stop
Fiorentina defender Rodriguez from poking home from close
range at Stamford Bridge
Begovic dives in vain as he tries to
stop Rodriguez
from opening the scoring during the International
Champions
Cup friendly match
More
substitutions followed, Eden Hazard among them,
and the Belgian buzzed
around on the left but to minimal
effect. Cesc Fabregas tried to create
from midfield
Chelsea
threatened from set-pieces but their best chance
was smartly saved by
goalkeeper Luigi Sepe from Gary Cahill’s
header low to his right. Cahill
nodded straight at the Italian
stopper shortly after.
When
things finally looked to be going well, Loic Remy
cut inside his marker
with five minutes to go, only
to woefully fire wide with half the goal
gaping on his right foot.
To
top things off, Zouma – the only Chelsea player to
complete the 90
minutes alongside Begovic – flattened Ricardo
Bagadur with a terrible
chest-high challenge in stoppage time
that may have normally brought a
red card.
Perhaps
it summed up Chelsea’s night. Practice makes perfect,
but on this
evidence the champions might need a little more
before they kick off
their title defence against Swansea City
here on Sunday.
Blues manager Jose Mourinho and his coaching
staff look on as they watch their side fall to a slender defeat by the Viola
Brazil international Oscar played 58 minutes before
being replaced by Chelsea team-mate Cesc Fabregas
Chelsea winger Victor Moses, who has
returned from a loan spell, is tackled by Fiorentina's Matias
Vecino as
he makes a forward run
Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard tries to take the
game to the Italian outfit but is closely tracked by two Fiorentina players
Chelsea's first team stars pose for a team photo
before their final pre-season match of the summer against Fiorentina
Captain John Terry (centre) and his Chelsea
team-mates acknowledge the Stamford Bridge
faithful ahead of the friendly match
A large Chelsea flag is waved from
side to side as
the home support gear up for their side's Premier League
opener against Swansea
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