Photo: Giovanni Batista Rodriguez / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Chelsea opened their pre-season tour with a 6-4 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers on Tuesday, with manager Xabi Alonso describing the result as valuable preparation for the season ahead.
Dastan Satpayev broke the deadlock after five minutes, but the Wanderers hit back with two goals to take the lead. A Dario Essugo strike levelled the contest before half-time.
The second half followed a similarly open pattern. The introduction of several first-team regulars just after the hour-mark helped Chelsea pull clear, with Jamie Gittens scoring shortly after coming on and Joao Pedro completing a nine-minute hat-trick to seal the win in the Sydney Super Cup.
"I think that this friendly is going to be useful for the future," said Alonso. "There were moments in the game that we were struggling to find solutions, and we need to have this experience. The positive is that we corrected them, but these moments of game management are something we can learn from today."
Alonso pointed specifically to pressing situations as an area requiring improvement. "When they were pressing so high, it was tough to find a solution from inside. We have to have a different understanding of what's happening and try to make those changes in the game, as it's something that will happen often."
The Chelsea manager also noted the broader benefits of the fixture. "No injuries, the young players having a good experience of coming on the tour and playing minutes, the senior players came on for good minutes and made a good impact, and it was an exciting game for the fans as well."
Midfielder Romeo Lavia did not feature and his participation was ruled out as a precaution. "He felt something in the hamstring," Alonso explained. "Not a big thing and, hopefully, we are expecting him to be fit for Saturday [against Tottenham Hotspur]. But there was no point in taking risks today, which is why Reggie Watson played 90 minutes and did well."