Chelsea 0-0 (5-4 on pens) Lyon
Motivation for the last ICC 2018 fixture is low among Chelsea fans after a crushing defeat against Manchester City in the Community Shield.
However, Maurizio Sarri showed reasons to put faith in him and his players. While the game wasn’t settled in 90 minutes, many SBOBET ICC 2018 punters knew that Chelsea won the contents of the game.
Highlights of the game
Both Sarri and Lyon boss Bruno Genesio have made it obvious to the casual fan on which players will be leading the attack for the two European giants. Both Willian and Memphis Depay have had their feet all over the ball and the Chelsea vs Lyon odds in the first half.
Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois, who have made a big impression in Russia, didn’t start the game and are persistently linked to club exits. It may be due to these facts that Willian was given the captain’s armband to start the game.
Chelsea kick off the match. Emerson made a good run to the wing and made a cross attempt. However, the ball didn’t do much against the Lyon keeper as he comfortably collects the ball.
Lyon won a corner at the fifth minute. The ball flew to the far side of the goal but was easily defended away by the Chelsea defence. The Blues quickly countered the corner with a quick one-two pass and dash led by Willian and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but the former Crystal Palace loanee who is praised by Hazard missed his chance.
Chelsea took a corner but wasn’t able to do anything with it. Lyon quickly started an attack from the left, and Ferland Mendy almost threatened to score with a curling effort that narrowly missed the target by just a ball’s width.
Depay led a strong attack through the middle around the 25th minute, forcing the young Bulka to make a brilliant save. Willian didn’t take long to reply to his rival. At the 28th minute, he used his speed to open up space and make a brilliant pass down the left wing for a rushing Danny Drinkwater to cross the ball to Tammy Abraham. Unfortunately, he fluffed his chance to take the lead.
Chelsea’s defence started to show cracks past the 30-minute mark when Depay starts carrying the ball through the middle and the formation wasn’t set to pressure him. He made a brilliant through pass to Houssem Aouar, who made the low-altitude bullet that just went wide.
Willian almost gave them a huge buffer in the final minute of the first half. Chelsea got a free kick right in front of goal, and the Brazilian fired a beautiful shot that was bound for the net. However, Anthony Lopes made a brilliant save to end the first half scoreless.
The second half started in a scramble. Chelsea put the pressure on Lyon, and the Ligue 1 club struggled a bit to get the ball forwards. When they did get the ball out of their own half, they managed to make Bulka come out of his line and make a sweeping save.
The game saw bits of individual brilliance from both sides: Depay bamboozled the defence with his cutting runs and managed to make Bulka run out of his line again, Loftus-Cheek attempted a brilliant chip over Lopes only to be denied by the woodwork.
Stamford Bridge welcomed World Cup winner N’Golo Kante and Ross Barkley to loud applause, and the French international immediately made his presence known up and down the pitch. He immediately made his impact on the offensive and defensive side of the match, helping the Blues to become more aggressive. Sarri also inserted Jorginho to test their midfield partnership.
When the clock neared 70 minutes, Sarri put in more World Cup stars. Olivier Giroud and Eden Hazard came in, joined by Lucas Piazon. Stamford Bridge roared to life as they looked forward to seeing their stars in action. Chelsea then put on a strong squad by the 75th minute, subbing off the starting line-up for players that usually see first-team action.
It was a big deadlock. The Blues continued to dominate the ball on the possession, but Lyon’s iron defence was able to stop the Blues from completing the attack on the final third. Meanwhile, Les Gones struggle to get the ball out of their own half. Big saves by Anthony Lopes at the death forced a penalty shootout.
The penalty shootout was a free-scoring festival as both Lopes and Robert Green were making wrong guesses against the strikers. However, Green made a brilliant save against Pape Diop to give Chelsea the advantage. Captain Hazard closed the game with a strike to the right-hand corner, avoiding Lopes’ hand by a short width.
Key statistics
Chelsea had 54% of the possession, but the game made it clear that the men who started the game still didn’t know how to create opportunities with their chances. Lyon had a total of 17 goal attempts. Fortunately, only two of those were actually on target.
However, the game’s attacking and defensive tempo saw an increase when the starters were inserted. It showed signs that the regulars are more comfortable with Sarri’s system and will be likely productive with it.
The Blues have also gotten away with two penalty-worthy offences, both committed in the first half. The first one was a poor tackle on Depay inside the box, while the other one was a handball by a Chelsea shirt in an attempt to stop the shot. However, the game (and the Premier League) is not implementing the polarizing system that was introduced in the recently concluded World Cup.
What’s next?
The offseason is about to close, and Europe will be devoured by football once again.
It’s the Premier League for Chelsea after an impressive string of ICC 2018 results. They will head to Huddersfield to face the Terriers at the Kirklees Stadium. Meanwhile, Lyonnais will welcome Amiens SC for their opening Ligue 1 battle.
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