The Blues impressed
again under Jose
Mourinho, making it
four wins from four so
far this preseason

The Blues booked a spot
in the International
Champions Cup semifinal
on Sunday by beating Inter
Milan in Indianapolis
tonight. Their next
opponent will now be
Inter's closest rivals, as AC
Milan beat Valencia 2-0 to
get the tournament
underway.
It was a sloppy start to the
game, with the first ten
minutes or so highlighted
more by poor passes and
ugly first touches than
anything worth watching.
That all changed 13
minutes in though, as
Victor Moses took
possession deep in Chelsea
territory, ran the length of
the pitch with the ball,
and picked out Oscar who
curled it into the net. Just
like that, Chelsea were in
the lead.
Chelsea got a fortunate
call int the 27th minute,
as Romelu Lukaku left a
beautiful ball in the path
of a full speed Victor
Moses. The Inter defense
had no choice but to foul,
and the referee incorrectly
ruled that Moses was
inside the box when the
foul occurred. One
Eden Hazard penalty
later, it was 2-0 Chelsea.
The rest of the first half
was pretty quiet, with
Branbearpig's yellow card
being the only real item of
note. Jose made some
changes at the half,
bringing on
Mark Schwarzer ,
Michael Essien , and
Juan Mata for Petr Cech,
Victor Moses, and Oscar.
Inter found the back of the
net just minutes into the
half, but it was correctly
waved off for offside. Fifty
eight minutes in, Inter was
down to ten after
Campagnaro was correctly
sent off for an absolutely
awful challenge on John
Terry. The official
probably stopped play too
early there, as the ball had
fallen to Chelsea for a two
on one break. In a real
game, that would have
irritated me. Tonight, I just
don't care.
David Luiz and Demba Ba
came on immediately after
the red card, with Romelu
Lukaku and Gary Cahill
making way.
Cesar Azpilicueta and
John Obi Mikel replaced
Branislav Ivanovic and
Marco van Ginkel several
minutes later, with
Chelsea still comfortably
controlling most of the
play.
Chelsea used the
remainder of their bench
in the 73rd minute,
bringing on
Fernando Torres and
Ryan Bertrand for
Ashley Cole and Eden
Hazard. Twenty minute
later, the referee blew the
2-0 victory to a close. Here
are a few quick thoughts
in the immediate
aftermath of this one:
Marco van Ginkel
covers an awful lot
of ground. It's hard
not to be impressed
by what we saw
from him tonight,
even if he's still not
fully in sync with
his teammates.
Inter tried to run a
high line tonight,
and Victor Moses
looked absolutely
fantastic in tearing
it apart. He's a real
weapon when used
correctly, and I
trust Jose Mourinho
to get the best out of
him far more than I
did the last guy in
charge.
Chelsea with Oscar
is far more fun to
watch than Chelsea
without Oscar.
Michael Essien
looked awfully good
this evening, moving
fairly well for an
old guy. Indiana
used to be prime
Bison country
though, so he
probably felt right at
home.
The spacing between
the defensive line
and the band of
three was perfect
tonight, something
that's not surprising
given the new man
in charge. It
wouldn't surprise
me at all to see
massive
improvement in the
midfield this season
just based on more
competent
management, as the
space between the
lines has been an
issue for most of the
past two years.
The Mikel/Essien
pivot could be a lot
of fun to watch, as
Mikel actually
looked comfortable
enough with his
partner that he
often ventured into
the attack. He's
going to score a goal
this season, just
watch.
As much as the
name of Inter Milan
has been associated
with quality
recently, this team
didn't look like
they're going to be
very good this
season based on
what we saw
tonight. It was
certainly a much
better opponent
than any of the
three in Asia, but I
wouldn't get too
worked up about
dominating a work
in progress.

Read all about the match here

http://wearebluesforever..com/2013/08/guinness-international-champions-cup_2.html?m=1