Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-2 Chelsea, Friendly: Post-match reaction

Chelsea come from two goals down to finish out preseason with a 2-2 draw in Mönchengladbach. Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley both scored from the penalty spot, though the first 20 minutes will be of great concern to Frank Lampard.

As has been the case in several friendlies, Chelsea started very slowly as Gladbach pressed aggressively and immediately. Chelsea struggled to get past even the halfway line, with multiple giveaways in our own half leading directly to Gladbach chances. Eventually, one of those misplays resulted in the opening goal.

Chelsea settled in a played much better after the goal, wasting numerous chances with Yann Sommer making several excellent saves. Abraham, Pulisic, and Mount all could’ve / should’ve scored. And then, against the run of play, Gladbach took advantage on the counter, and doubled their lead just before the half.

Chelsea started the second half much much better, and absolutely peppered the BMG goal with better and better chances, but Yann Sommer was equal to every Chelsea effort. We eventually got our reward through a soft penalty won by Kovacic’s driving run into the area, which Abraham converted with ease.

It looked like a second goal would not be coming for the Blues, with Barkley especially guilty of missing a glorious chance, 1-v-1 with Sommer but not even coming close to hitting the target, but Mount won a late penalty (no doubt about that one!) and Barkley converted that with unerring precision.

So preseason ends with a 2-2 draw, but more importantly, with plenty of positives and negatives to take back to Cobham. It wasn’t the best game from Chelsea, but not the worst either, at least not after the first 20 or so minutes. Certainly created enough chances to score more than just the 2 goals.

Room to improve, as always.

Carefree.

• Jorginho-Kovacic pivot showing their limitations today, with neither player able to consistently cover just by himself when the other pushed forward. Gaping holes in midfield are a concern, especially with the defensive line dropping off.
• Jorginho-Kanté tested for the first time in the last 20 minutes. Lovely to see N’Golo back at long last!
• Barkley and Mount playing together for the last 20 minutes as well, with Mount mostly central and Barkley wide left. Not sure Barkley’s as effective wide as Mount would be.
• Christensen-Zouma partnership not making a good case, with Zouma slow to close down players, especially early, and Christensen making a mess of the offside trap on BMG’s second goal. They did pose a threat on attacking set pieces though.
• Chelsea’s second half improvement something positive to build on.
• Yann Sommer may have just had the best game of his life in the Gladbach goal.
• Barkley & Abraham both preferred ahead of Jorginho on penalty kick duty?
• A fair few yellows in this game, a good indication of the intensity and occasional chippy-ness of the occasion.
• Next up: Manchester United away, next Sunday.
• Carefree