Match report: Wycombe Wand 2K 323 3K Match report: Wycombe Wanderers 0 Chelsea 5 Pre-season match action began smoothly with two young players, Patrick Bamford and Izzy Brown, and two well-established stars, John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, finding the net against League Two opposition. A week after training began, 22 Chelsea players were given time on the pitch and they kept Wycombe well at bay for most of the game. Bamford with a very well- dispatched volley finished off a good move to give the Blues a half-time lead, which was added to soon after the resumption by Brown and Terry. Ivanovic, as had Terry, converted a set-piece before Brown scored his second goal of the night with a shot from distance inside the final five minutes. Team news Mark Schwarzer provided the experience in a young starting line-up which had Bamford leading the attack ahead of last season’s debutants Lewis Baker and John Swift, who were joined by Lucas Piazon out on the right. There were more of last year’s Under-21 side mixed with players who were away on loan in the defence, with Oriol Romeu and Marco van Ginkel, who have both recovered from cruciate surgery in the last two years, further forward in the centre of midfield. Terry, Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah were first-team squad members introduced after the break, along with goalscorer Brown. First half Tree-lined Adams Park on a warm summer’s evening was a pleasant place for the pre- season fitness programme to make its next step forward and with plenty of the squad still away following the World Cup, there were opportunities for Academy products to impress. Baker and Swift, so prominent in our Under-21s’ title win last season, were on the same wavelength straight away as Chelsea broke from inside our own half, but Wycombe defended the attack well. At the other end, Andreas Christensen, the young Danish defender who won silverware with our Under-21s and Under-18s last season, was alert to intercept a cross when Nathan Ake at left-back was dispossessed by Paul Hayes. This young Chelsea side recovered from that one brief moment of concern to enjoy plenty of possession without too much penetration, but on 17 minutes Todd Kane, who had started at right-back, clearly could not continue due to injury. Play stopped and the break may have affected Wycombe’s concentration because Chelsea scored almost immediately after the action restarted, and it was a goal with plenty to admire. Romeu’s long pass out to the left was good but the first- time cross hooked back by the advanced Ake, just inside the byline, was even better. It found Bamford in space and he wasted no time in dispatching it low into the net with a fine left-foot volley. Kurt Zouma came on for his first Chelsea action immediately after the goal, a straight swap for Kane. Chelsea were moving the ball more quickly around Adams Park now, and Wycombe were leaving gaps. Piazon dragged a shot wide and it took a very good sliding tackle from Joe Jacobson to prevent Bamford adding to his tally after a crisp Chelsea move cut through the middle of their defence. Five minutes before half-time Wycombe came their closest to scoring so far, with Bamford back to clear a shot from Aaron Pierre after Schwarzer only got one hand to a corner, with a follow-up header dropping over the bar. Chalobah then did enough to prevent Wycombe striker Steven Craig getting a full header to a cross before at the other end, Zouma showed spring heels to leap high as a corner bounced around the Wycombe area but his downward header was blocked. A single goal separated the sides as they went in at half-time. Second-half Only Schwarzer and Romeu from the first-half team came out for the restart. With just over two minutes played following resumption, two of the youngest players introduced combined to double the lead after Nemanja Matic had chipped a pass out wide. Jay Dasilva, now a first- year scholar but one of last season’s FA Youth Cup winners when still a schoolboy, was forward from left-back and took one touch before crossing for Izzy Brown (pictured below right) to volley high inside the far past. The clean strike gave the keeper no chance. It was a goal that bore plenty of resemblance to the opener. Jeremie Boga had a shot saved soon after and from the corner that followed, Chelsea went 3-0 up. It was Boga who delivered the ball – deliberately low into the path of John Terry who drove it into the back of net and went straight to congratulate his teenage team-mate. There were 50 minutes played. From another Boga set-piece, Ivanovic had a header saved before the Serbian smashed a shot over the bar when found unmarked by Matic as Wycombe dithered in defence. Ivanovic redeemed himself on 66 minutes when he was the one from a clutch of yellow shirts who got his head to a perfectly dipping Boga free- kick. 4-0. There were two further Chelsea subs for the final 15 minutes with Mitchell Beeney going in goal and Jordan Houghton introduced into midfield. Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth came on as well, just as former Tottenham central defender/centre- forward Gary Doherty came off. Before the end Matt Bloomfield, whose testimonial this game was, was given a standing ovation from both sets of fans as he was replaced. Last season’s Chelsea youth top scorer Dominic Solanke became an increasing threat as the game drew to a close, with one shot over and one lob not quite having the height to clear the keeper, but it was Brown who completed the scoring with his second of the night – a sweet strike from outside the area into the top corner. Next for this group of players is another away game against lower league opposition – this time AFC Wimbledon on Saturday afternoon. First-half line-up (4-2-3-1): Mark Schwarzer (c); Todd Kane (Kurt Zouma 20), Nathaniel Chalobah, Andreas Christensen, Nathan Ake; Oriol Romeu, Marco van Ginkel; Lucas Piazon, Lewis Baker, John Swift; Patrick Bamford. Second-half line-up (4-2-3-1): Mark Schwarzer (Mitchell Beeney 73); Branislav Ivanovic, Kurt Zouma, John Terry (c), Jay Dasilva; Oriol Romeu (Jordan Houghton 73), Nemanja Matic; Mohamed Salah, Jeremie Boga, Izzy Brown; Dominic Solanke. Scorers Bamford 20, Brown 47, 86, Terry 50, Ivanovic 58. Wycombe Ingram, Lewis (Driver 63), Doherty (Fletcher 73), Pierre, Jacobson (Jombati h-t), Scowen (Murphy 58), Wood (Kretzschmar 63), Bloomfield (Evans 78), Hayes (Ainsworth 73), Cowan-Hall (Morias 63), Craig (McClure 58). Referee M Russell Attendance 7,774 abubakarz9.tk
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 22:49:02 +0000
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