Antonio Conte’s men ended their pre-season in stylish fashion with a comfortable 2-4 victory away to Werder Bremen, with goals from Hazard, Oscar, Pedro and Costa.
The Blues wrapped up their pre-season on a good note with a 2-4 win at the Weserstadion. Eden Hazard, Oscar, Pedro and Diego Costa all found the back of the net in a clash dominated by the Blues. Questions will be raised about Antonio Conte’s defence, as they get ready to kick off the 2016/17 Premier League campaign against West Ham United.
Hazard drew first blood, opening the scoring in the 6th minute with a strike from distance. Oscar would double Chelsea’s lead in a matter of minutes with a close range finish. Bremen managed to get back into the game after Nemanja Matic fouled Junuzovic in the box. Ex-Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro stepped up and made no mistake from 12 yards out. But Costa restored Chelsea’s 2 goal lead with the help of some superb build up play from Eden Hazard. Lennart Thy later pulled another back for Bremen, thanks to a lapse in concentration from Courtois and the Chelsea defence. But Bremen never really managed to threaten the Blues and Pedro later killed off the game in the 90th minute.
Speaking in his post match press conference, the Chelsea manager insisted that he was pleased with his side’s performance and spoke of the importance of the victory to help build confidence. “It was a good victory. We’ve finished our pre-season, it was very tough and hard in all aspects and we must be pleased to finish with a win,” he said. “It’s important to win for confidence ahead of the start of the season. The team started the game in the right way and with the right intensity.” The Italian was aware of his side’s problems and also made his displeasure at conceding two goals very clear, saying “There were some bad situations to concede two goals which I didn’t like, we must improve a lot, but we were tired after our pre-season. We are working very hard to be ready. It will be difficult. We know we have some problems but we are trying to solve them.”
Fans were pleased to see Eden Hazard running the show like his usual self,
A joy to watch Hazard at his best.
— Chelsea HQ (@Chelsea_HQ) August 7, 2016
I really think the main difference with Hazard is fitness. Hasn’t looked this fit in any of the pre-seasons he’s had at the club.
— Malhar Bhadbhade (@malharcfc08) August 7, 2016
Only pre-season, but Hazard looks in far better shape than 12 months ago…three goals in just over a week #cfc
— Simon Johnson (@sjstandardsport) August 7, 2016
Eden Hazard in pre-season:
⏱ Games – 3
⚽️ Goals – 3— bet365 (@bet365) August 7, 2016
Costa gets first goal of pre-season…brilliant assist by Hazard #cfc
— Simon Johnson (@sjstandardsport) August 7, 2016
Hazard is too unselfish and harmless to be an ‘animal’ this ssn…I really hope he does tho https://t.co/bZrg1QWQyu
— OgyaDum (@CollinsBoadi) August 7, 2016
Happy with the Chelsea performance today. Hazard and Costa look so sharp today. I just feel Chelsea need to bring in a defender. #Chelsea ?
— Scott (@Shazam_Eu) August 7, 2016
@ChelseaFC Sell Hazard to a bigger club, he deserves more than this shitty defence
— Landile Hlongwane (@landile7032) August 7, 2016
Hazard will be flames this season
— Ben Dover (@menteh_) August 7, 2016
Hazard is back from season long loan. God knows where.
— eke kalu (@ekekalu7) August 7, 2016
Oscar and Kante worked so well together, in tandem not many will evade them #AllAction
— (((Ollie))) (@ollie_glanvill) August 7, 2016
And just like that it’s 2-0. Hazard and Oscar getting on the scoring sheet early as #CFC come out with an attacking mindset.
— North Texas Blues (@NTXBlues) August 7, 2016
OSCAR 2-0 ! Very good move ✌️ #CFC
— Francois Piraux (@F8Piraux) August 7, 2016
Was 10 mins late, so just caught up with first half. This game typifies why Oscar is so frustrating. If he played like this consistently…
— Garry Hayes (@garryhayes) August 7, 2016
We’re finally seeing some of those runs from Costa that he made regularly in 2014/15.
— J. Tweedie (@JoeTweedie) August 7, 2016
Superb goal from Diego Costa. Really top quality finish. He’s been great this half.
— J. Tweedie (@JoeTweedie) August 7, 2016
You can actually hear Conte barking orders incessantly. It’s amazing.
— J. Tweedie (@JoeTweedie) August 7, 2016
Would love to know how many balls N’Golo Kante has recovered so far. What a signing!
— Chelsea HQ (@Chelsea_HQ) August 7, 2016
lol at spoiled Chelsea fans whinging about lack of transfer activity, like Chelsea didn’t already sign N’Golo Kante(!!) and Michy Batshuayi.
— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) August 7, 2016
Kante & Matic have the potential to be a phenomenal pairing. They get it right and it could free up our more creative to devastating effect.
— ChelseaFansChannel (@ChelseaFansYT) August 7, 2016
They KANTE keep up ??????
— Zaga Dat ! (@A_junaidu1414) August 7, 2016