. Chelsea FC recorded their first win in the International Champions’ Cup pre-season tournament by beating Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain 6-5 on penalties on Saturday night in Charlotte, North Carolina
In what was truly a game of two halves, Paris Saint-Germain saw their first-half dominance and subsequent lead cancelled out by a rejuvenated Chelsea FC in the second half, with Victor Moses continuing his impressive pre-season form by scoring the equaliser for Jos Mourinho’s men.
New signing Radamel Falcao made his Chelsea FC d but earlier than expected, and looked sharp in his 20-minute cameo before coolly slotting home the Blues’ first penalty in the shoot-out. Returning internationals Willian and Juan Cuadrado also played their first minutes of pre-season and looked lively against a strong PSG defence.
Moses pre-season form a big bonus for Blues
In what probably came as a surprise to most Chelsea FC fans, Nigerian international Victor Moses was included as part of the Blues’ squad that flew out to Montreal a week and a half ago to begin preparations for the defence of the Londoners’ Premier League crown.
The 24-year-old’s performances, however, have seen Mourinho’s faith in him vindicated. Moses was once more a threat to the opposition defence because of his physicality and directness, creating a gilt-edged opportunity for Branislav Ivanovi in the first half, before getting on the score-sheet with a clever run in behind – latching on to a sumptuous Cesc F bregas ball over the top.
Thibaut Courtois wins it for Chelsea FC with incredible penalty
Although Asmir Begovi did extremely well in the first-half, keeping the Blues in the game with three important saves, the headlines all went to Belgian no.1 Thibaut Courtois. The 23-year-old backed up his solid performance by saving two penalties, before firing an absolute rocket of a penalty of his own, winning the game for his team.
Radamel Falcao will also have been delighted to find the back of the net in his first game for Chelsea FC, stepping up as the Blues’ first penalty-taker and firing in confidently to Salvatore Sirigu’s bottom-right corner.
Victor Moses 1 vs 1 PSG . #CFC pic.twitter.com/Ckh2qfQmZk
a CFCVID (@CFCvid) July 26, 2015
Thibaut Courtois Penalty kick . #CFC pic.twitter.com/GqHosF0k49
a CFCVID (@CFCvid) July 26, 2015