Thibaut Courtois was the hero in Charlotte, scoring the winning penalty and saving two of PSG’s in the shoot-out following an exhilarating and often ill-tempered 1-1 draw.
The shot stopper kept out spot-kicks from Jean-Christophe Bahebeck and Thiago Silva before spectacularly blasting the 14th and final penalty into the top corner, handing the blue’s the victory against the French champions.
In normal time it was Victor Moses who cancelled out Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s opener. The Swede fired home a rebound midway through a first half which was dominated by the Parisians; Chelsea will have been thanking the outstanding Asmir Begovic at half time for keeping the score so low.
Chelsea were much improved after the break after making whole sale changes and levelled when Cesc Fabregas expertly picked out a fine Moses run, who subsequent close-range volley was crisp and clinical. Moses is in fine form at the moment and Mourinho will be finding it hard to ignore the Nigerian.
Falcao then came on for his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt and impressed. He was also one of six Chelsea players to score their penalty having stepped up first.
In the end it turned into a Courtois show, first denying Bahebeck and finally Thiago Silva’s with two fine saves, then he smashed his own shot into the roof of the net, as though taking a goal kick. It was an emphatic end to an entertaining encounter.
Line Up’s:
Chelsea: Begovic; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Mikel, Matic; Moses, Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa.
PSG (Expected Line Up): Trapp; Van der Wiel, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Maxwell, Aurier, Stambouli, Verratti, Moura, Augustin, Ibrahimovic.
Live Updates: ?? (Live updates will start at 23:00 +GMT)
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Key:
Red Card:? | Yellow Card:? | Goal:⚽️ | General Update: ? | Sub: ?
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1. Motta ⚽️ Falcao ⚽️
2. Adrien ⚽️ Dave (Azi) ⚽️
3. Ongenda ⚽️ Cuadrado ❌
4. Bahebeck ❌ Remy ⚽️
5. Cavani ⚽️ Oscar ⚽️ (NIIIICCCEEEE)
6. Marquinhos ⚽️ Willian ⚽️
7. Silva ❌ Courtois ⚽️
? FT- Chelsea FC 1-1 PSG. Penalty shootout to come.
? 00:53: Can anyone grab a winner? At the moment its all Chelsea.
? 00:45: Cuadrado for Schurlle?? Your having a laugh. What a waste of money the Columbian was.
? 00:43: Chelsea are running riot now. Falcao spear heading this Chelsea team that is playing with such swagger.
? 00:41: Cuadrado (Hazard) on.
? 00:39: Well what a difference a goal makes. Chelsea are flying. Even Falcao is getting in on the action. His first contribution nearly leading to a goal.
? 00:36: Oscar (Fabregas), Willian (Moses), Falcao (Costa) and Remy (Matic). are on.
⚽️ 00:32: Well, well, well…. Victor Moses pulls Chelsea level against the run of play. Great goal as well.
? 00:30: Chelsea should be level here. They had a 3 on 1 situation but Fabregas fluffed his lines. Another poor showing from Chelsea here. They are being made to look very undenay here. Mourinho may think twice about dipping into the transfer market for some quality re-enforcments.
? 00:26: Horrific challenge by Aurier. Rightly booked.
? 00:23: Remy, Willian and Oscar getting ready to come on for Chelsea.
? 00:19: Rabiot booked for PSG.
? 00:12: Zouma (Cahill), Rami (Mikel) and Courtois (Begovic) come on for Chelsea.
? 00:12: PSG kick us off for the second half.
HT 23: 55: Chelsea look absolutely shattered here. Lucky to go in only a goal behind and will have to thank Begovic that they have. They had a bright 15-20 minute opening but since then its been all PSG. Chelsea will blame their inferior game time and I would have to agree, Chelsea were on top until their legs went.
? 23:46: Anything but a friendly this game. PSG with 3 pen shouts in 30 seconds. Things are high paced and heated.
?23:44: Yellow for Dave (Azpilicueta).
? 23:42: Begovic redeems himself from his poor performance against the Red Bulls with a terrific save here.
? 23:38: Costa hits the bar. Good response from Chelsea.
⚽️ 23:35: Ibrahimovic escapes the red card and puts PSG ahead. (25).
? 23:32: Ibrahimovic should be off here. Elbowed John Terry across the face. Official lets him off scott free.
? 23:30: PSG starting to get their foot on the ball a bit more. Chelsea do look dangerous on the break however, amazing pace. Chances are few and far between here though.
? 23:17: Moses causing problems here. Chelsea nearly score. This is a fantastic start for Chelsea. PSG cannot catch their breath here.
? 23:15: Chelsea are putting PSG to the sword early on here. David Luiz close to gifting his former team the lead. Great pace so far.
? 23:11: Costa causing a confrontation already.
? 23:10: And PSG get us underway!
? 23:05: Players are ready in the tunnel. Show time.
? 23:00: Falcao is on the bench for Chelsea, will blue’s fan’s get to see him in action tonight? I wonder.
? 22:58: Jose Mourinho: “They have very good players (PSG) and to train against very good players is a good opportunity.”
? 22:55: The ground is absolutely packed fill of Chelsea fans here in Charlotte, NC. PSG are outnumbered 10-1.
? 22:50: 20 minuets to go before kick off. Chelsea have fielded a really strong side here. Very surprised to see the Brazilian contingent on the bench.
