Johor Darul Ta'zim 3-3 Chelsea: Five key takeaways from pre-season friendly

Xabi Alonso’s men held to a draw in a six-goal thriller!

The English top-flight club Chelsea FC travelled to Sultan Ibrahim Stadium for a club friendly contest. They locked horns with the top-tier Malaysian side, Johor Darul Ta’zim.

Things got pretty heated during the 66th minute after Antonio Cristian came up with a brutal tackle on the English forward, Liam Delap. Johor Darul Ta’zim was shown a yellow card for his indisciplinary action. Due to this being a friendly encounter, there was no VAR intervention; otherwise, it might have been a red card.

Led by Xabi Alonso, Chelsea FC missed out on the majority of the top players, including Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro, Wesley Fofana and others. Majorly, the squad consisted of youngsters. It was a very different lineup from what we saw against AC Milan. The Malaysian Super League champions put up a tough fight for the Premier League side.

Also Read: Why did Cole Palmer & Joao Pedro miss Johor Darul Ta’zim vs Chelsea pre-season friendly?

Important things we learned from this match:

1. Defensive issues continue for Chelsea

The Blues, after securing a clean sheet in their last matchup, conceded three goals this time around. Even though the majority of the top players were not a part of Chelsea, the back-three formation of Tosin Adarabioyo, Olutayo Subuloye and Aaron Anselmino was not enough.

2. Chelsea lacked a finishing touch

The Xabi Alonso-led side was without Joao Pedro and Danny Wellbeck in the attacking front. Liam Delap and Nicolas Jackson were the main men in the final third, but they missed out on multiple chances. Chelsea might have been able to score more goals out there, but they lacked a finishing touch due to a lack of composure.

3. Brace of penalties

Even though Liam Delap failed to score a direct goal against Johor Darul Ta’zim, he was sharp when it was time to take the spot kicks. Chelsea conceded two penalties during the 42nd and 62nd minutes. The 23-year-old came up with a strong run-up and fired the ball at the back of the net both times to complete his brace.

4. Mykhailo Mudryk’s emotional comeback

Mykhailo Mudryk was once again on the field for a few minutes, but this time he was pretty impactful. He delivered a sensational ball in the 89th minute, which was deflected in by Johor Darul Ta’zim defender Antonio Cristian. This was counted as Chelsea’s third goal. Mudryk was on the pitch for around 10 minutes and with that, he was a constant threat to the opponent’s defence.

5. Oscar Arribas’s free kick

The 27-year-old came up with a sensational free kick from outside the box. He found the top right corner and bamboozled Chelsea’s Gaga Slonina, who was guarding the goal. Oscar Arribas used the perfect technique and a slight deflection by Liam Delap was enough to get the ball inside the goal.

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