A second-half brace from Oscar saw Chelsea secure a 3-1 win over AC Milan in the International Champions Cup on Wednesday.
The Blues managed to finish their US tour on a high with the victory over AC Milan, with N’Golo Kante making his debut and Diego Costa coming back from injury – but they still look some way short of form with the new season less
than two weeks away.
Kante looked authoritative while Bertrand Traore impressed and £32million signing Michy Batschuayi came on for the last half hour, but Antonio Conte will want to ensure he has a new full back, centre half and Romelu Lukaku signed by the end of the month to turn his team back in title challengers.
Chelsea got the job done against a lacklustre AC Milan with an Oscar penalty on 69 minutes, the midfielder firing home decisively into the top corner after Eden Hazard’s cross had been handled by Andrea Poli.
And the Brazilian, whose future at the club is unsure, with Inter keen to sign him, sealed the game by connecting with Juan Cuadrado’s through ball on 87 minutes to add Chelsea’s third.
But though Chelsea were the better side, they were showing the sign of fatigue from their travels and the double training sessions imposed by Conte. The Italian manager started again with an extremely open 4-2-4 formation but switched to a more solid 4-3-3 in the second half once Kante and Hazard had come on.
Bertrand Traore opened the scoring for Chelsea in the 24th minute, but Milan struck back shortly before half-time through Giacomo Bonaventura in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Oscar broke the deadlock for the Premier League outfit with a spot-kick midway through the second period, after Andrea Poli handled Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross in the box.
Brazil international Oscar then made sure of the result with a clinical finish late in the game, slotting the ball past Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Conte and Co. now face Werder Bremen in their final friendly before the Premier League season begins, while Milan face Freiberg ahead of the new Serie A campaign.
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