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Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Chelsea, Friendly: Live blog

...as it happened: lineups, updates, highlights, live blog

Borussia Moenchengladbach v FC Chelsea - Pre-Season Friendly Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images

LIVE BLOG

90min: FULL TIME

87min: Big save from Kepa to keep the scores level!

85min: GOAL!!! CHELSEA!! Mount wins the penalty as he chops the ball back after getting onto Azpilicueta’s pass. Barkley takes, Barkley scores! 2-2!!

80min: Christensen defends well on Embolo after BMG play around Alonso on the flank.

78min: Terrible play by BMG on a long ball gifts Barkley a massive chance, but he doesn’t even hit the target when 1-v-1 with the goalkeeper. Would’ve expected much better, especially given the great preseason he’s had.

74min: Alonso finds Mount making the run through the center, but Sommer makes the save on the low, left-footed shot.

71min: Giroud gets a yellow for some reason, after Elvedi crumples to the ground twice in quick succession. Meanwhile, Kanté has arrived onto the scene, replacing Pedro. The double-pivot is now Jorginho and Kanté. Barkley slides left, with Mount central behind Giroud.

68min: Pedro gives away a free kick just outside the corner of the penalty area and gets a yellow card. Gladbach try to catch Kepa out at his near post instead of crossing, but Kepa’s up to the challenge.

66min: A slew of changes from Chelsea, with Alonso replacing Emerson, Giroud replacing Abraham, Barkley replacing Kovacic, Kenedy replacing Pulisic.

65min: Zouma’s turn to head high from a Mount corner, after Abraham’s cross was blocked.

61min: Elvedi in the book for pulling back Mount as he was racing clear. Mount swings the free kick in from deep, finding Christensen, but his header is inaccurate and well wide.

58min: GOAL! ABRAHAM!! Kovačić’s turn to run at the defense and as he’s closed down by three, he goes down in the area and the penalty is given! Not so sure about that call. Abraham takes the spot kick, and Abraham converts with ease. 2-1!

57min: Chelsea knife through the BMG defense once again, but Mount’s dink towards the far post is just a bit too high for Pulisic and his header falls harmlessly wide.

55min: Gladbach maintain possession for a brief period, but Chelsea win it back and the ball over the top finds Abraham. His shot is good, but Sommer’s save is even better.

53min: Sommer pulls off another spectacular save, this time getting a hand down on Mount’s 7-yard effort. What in the world is going on!?

51min: Somehow, Chelsea fail to score as Sommer makes two point-blank stops, first from his own player, then from Abraham following up. Sommer using some sort of cheat code today!

49min: Kovacic steps up to retain possession after Pulisic wins the ball back, gets a bounce, and is on goal 1-v-1 left wide angle, but Sommer once again comes up with the goods. Mount takes the resulting corner, finds Christensen, but he heads well over.

47min: Chelsea threaten early on the right flank, but Azpi’s cross is collected by Sommer.

HALF-TIME: No changes at the half and the home side get the game restarted.


45min: HALF-TIME. Plenty of chances for both sides, but only Gladbach taking theirs.

44min: Gladbach content to play out the half, Chelsea content to let them.

39min: GOAL, Hofmann. Jorginho with excellent ball skills to get Chelsea out, but the move breaks down and Jorginho’s shot is blocked, which is then turned directly into a counter. A lovely through ball for Hofmann, kept onside by Christensen, leads to the home side’s second goal. Kepa a bit unlucky on the save. 2-0, Gladbach.

38min: Mount twists and turns in the area and creates a shot for himself, but Sommer’s up the challenge once again.

36min: Emerson wins a foul near the corner flag as he tries to round his man. Mount takes what is essentially a shortened corner, hits it hard and fast, Pulisic sort of gets a touch but it goes wide of the far post.

33min: Chelsea win a corner as Mount plays a delayed 1-2 with Pedro. Mount plays it short to Pulisic, who beats his man to cross, finding Abraham at the far post. His header back across just eludes a Chelsea leg.

32min: Pulisic with an errant pass leads BMG in, but he himself tracks back to defend for a corner.

29min: Sommer called into action again, with Pulisic getting behind the line, and makes a great save. Pulisic is then fouled, but the referee waves play on.

28min: Lainer is the first BMG player in the books for scything down Emerson on the touchline.

27min: Chelsea maintaining some solid possession now, but inaccurate crosses from Azpilicueta and Emerson make it large non-threatening.

24min: Kovačić goes into the book for a late sliding challenge. Kept his studs down, so just mistimed a bit.

23min: Chelsea press high, but the referee blocks off Jorginho accidentally and BMG break. Chelsea block their shot and break the other way. A flying header from a defender prevents the ball from finding Abraham.

22min: Snappy passing through the middle sees Mount play Abraham through, but a last-ditch toe from the defender prevents the chance.

17min: From a corner, Chelsea break 4-v-3, with Abraham and Pulisic getting us out. Pulisic lays it on for Mount, but the pass is a bit slow and he takes a bad touch, too, but keeps it alive and finds Pedro with a square ball. His shot misses the top corner however.

16min: Chelsea continue to struggle to play out from the back, giving BMG a short field to work with, and they continue to create dangerous opportunities.

13min: GOAL, Pléa. An errant pass from Kepa finds a green shirt, and with Chelsea static, he comes forward and finds the corner of the net from 20 yards. 1-0, Gladbach.

9min: BMG make a mess of a simple long ball, with Pedro harrying the defender and the ball falls to Abraham, who shapes to shoot but Sommer pulls off a world class save.

8min: Nice 1-2 between Mount and Pedro on the right, but the former’s cross is deflected and the goalkeeper gathers. Meanwhile, Emerson gets a yellow for sliding in with his studs showing.

7min: Chelsea this time play through the press very well, with Jorginho switching play right and Pedro bounding forward. He lays it wide to Azpilicueta who crosses neatly, finding Mount for a free header, but he gets it all wrong. Chance.

4min: Chelsea still unable to get past the halfway and BMG come again, but the defense holds.

2min: Marcus Thuram tries a shot from 20 yards out after Chelsea try a long ball out, Kepa dives but it’s always going wide. BMG come again and Thuram snaps onto another one; wide again.

1min: Borussia press immediately and aggressively; Azpi twists and turns his way through it and finds Abraham at the halfway, who’s hacked down from behind.

KICK-OFF: Borussia in green and black, Chelsea in all blue with white socks. Chelsea get us underway.


Chelsea’s final preseason friendly of 2019 is upon us. This is the last game guaranteed to be fun. After this, things will get very real, very quickly.

So let’s enjoy this far more innocent time, one last time.

Here we go!


Borussia Mönchengladbach starting lineup (4-3-3):
Sommer | Wendt, Elvedi, Ginter, Lainer | Zakaria, Strobl, Neuhaus | Pléa, Thuram, Hofmann

Substitutes from: Sippel, Lang, Herrmann, Raffael, Beyer, Johnson, Benes, Cuisance, Embolo, Bennetts, Poulsen

Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Arrizabalaga | Emerson, Christensen, Zouma, Azpilicueta (c) | Jorginho, Kovačić | Pulisic, Mount, Pedro | Abraham

Substitutes from: Caballero, Ziger, Zappacosta, Tomori, David Luiz, Alonso, Kenedy, Kanté, Barkley, Giroud


Date / Time: Saturday, August 3, 2019, 16:00 BST; 11am EDT; 8:30 pm IST
Venue: Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach, Germany
Forecast: Afternoon thunderstorms leading to cooler night

On TV: ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes (USA); elsewhere
Streaming online: Chelsea TV (UK/Ireland, audio only), ESPN+ , ESPN Deportes+(USA)

UK note: Due to the rules regarding football shown on Saturday afternoons in the UK, the game will not be shown live on Chelsea TV — the rules are in effect already since the lower leagues have begun play this weekend. Chelsea TV will have live audio / match commentary. The match itself will be available on tape delay for free on the website and the app at 18:00 BST.


Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!

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