Antonio Conte’s influence was evident as 10-man Chelsea beat Liverpool one nil in the International Champions Cup at the Rose Bowl on Thursday morning.
His Chelsea side were superbly organised, and despite seeing Cesc Fabregas sent off for a reckless challenge in the 70th minute, managed to weather an exuberant Liverpool attack without any major difficulties.
Liverpool were on a hot-streak, having won their last four games on the trot, but against a top-tier side were unable to get going.
Gary Cahill scored the solitary goal, rising high to meet Fabregas’ corner in the 10th minute as Chelsea got the best possible start to the match.
While the fact that they were unable to capitalise on their start, is a slight concern for Conte, who fielded a relatively strong starting line-up which included the likes of Nemanja Matic, John Terry and Cesar Azpilcueta among others.
The Reds had a mix of regulars and first-timers in their starting XI, but the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino failed to dazzle as did new signing Sadio Mane. Mane's pace was expertly neutralised by wily veteran Terry as the Reds enduring a frustrating night.
Jurgen Klopp has one more worry, as goalkeeper Lorius Karius clashed with Dejan Lovren while attempting to catch a cross, and the defender had to come off after the accidental collison hurt his head.
Liverpool next play Italian giants AC Milan on Sunday, July 31 while Chelsea have a daunting game against Real Madrid on Saturday, July 30.
Other Games
Paris Saint-Germain beat Real Madrid 3-1, with new-boy Thomas Meunier the unlikely hero as the full back grabbed a brace.
And AC Milan beat Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout, after a thrilling 90 minutes which ended with both teams dead-locked at three goals apiece.