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A rather unsafe-looking pitch and an injury to Ruben Loftus-Cheek (so far not much is known about it — not even clear if there was contact or not) were the only bad parts of tonight’s charity friendly at Gillette Stadium, as Chelsea beat the New England Revolution 3-0 in the Final Whistle on Hate.
The game’s biggest aim of course was to raise awareness and funds to combat anti-Semitism, and in that sense it was certainly a rousing success with $4 million raised for 15 different organizations.
Halftime update: The Final Whistle on Hate is expected to raise over $4 million.
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) May 16, 2019
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this very special night.#NERevs // @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/00fF5pxgb4
A strong Chelsea eleven started the match and grabbed two easy goals before half-time — Barkley and Giroud — then added one more in the second half to entertain the locals.
Now it’s time to rest and recover for a bit — four days off is the word — and then begin preparations in earnest for the Europa League final in two weeks, on May 29.
KTBFFH.
- Starting lineup: Kepa | Alonso, David Luiz (c), Christensen, Zappacosta | Kovačić, Jorginho, Barkley | Hazard, Giroud, Pedro
- Six changes at half time, with Caballero (on for Kepa), Emerson (on for Alonso) Azpilicueta (on for Christensen), Loftus-Cheek (on for Kovačić), Willian (on for Hazard), and Higuain (on for Giroud) coming on.
- It’s perhaps noteworthy that Azplicueta is continuing to deputize as the third center back
- Connor Gallagher replaced RLC just before the 70-minute after the latter’s very concerning injury. These things happen of course, but questions will be asked and fingers will be pointed.
- Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah get the last 15 or so minutes.
- Rob Green even makes an appearance.
- Jorginho and Pedro played the full 90.
- That injury really sapped the fun out of this thing.
- Carefree.