- New York Red Bulls 4 (Castellanos 50, Adams 69, Davis 73, 77) Chelsea 2 (Remy 27, Hazard 75)
Asmir Begovic conceded four second-half goals on his Chelsea debut as the Blues suffered a humiliating 4-2 loss at the hands of a second-string New York Red Bulls side in the International Champions Cup at the Red Bull Arena.
The Red Bulls – currently sitting third in the Eastern Conference – claimed one of the biggest wins in the club’s history despite coach Jesse Marsh naming a squad consisting of second string and academy players. In contrast, Chelsea had plenty of experienced players on show and led 1-0 at half-time courtesy of a well-taken goal from Loic Remy on 27 minutes.
However, Jose Mourinho’s side spectacularly collapsed in the second period, conceding four goals including three in an eight-minute period. Disaster struck for Chelsea five minutes after the restart when John Terry – a second-half substitute – played a short back pass and Franklin Castellanos took advantage, beating Begovic to the ball and sliding into an empty net.
The goal fest began on 69 minutes when schoolboy Tyler Adams, aged 16, headed the Red Bulls in front on 69 minutes. Sean Davis extended the hosts’ lead on 73 minutes but Eden Hazard responded immediately as he finished a well worked free-kick on 75 minutes. However, the hosts restored their two goal lead when Davis scored his second two minutes later, capitalising on a mistake by Ramires.
It was an embarrassing start to the pre-season tournament for Mourinho who will be extremely concerned at his side’s performance and, in particular, the shambolic defending shown in the second-half including a nightmare debut for Begovic.
KEY MOMENTS
27’ – GOAL – New York Red Bulls 0-1 Chelsea! Remy powers the ball home after meeting Oscar’s pass in space. Moses was also involved. Nice goal but poor defending.
30’ – POST! Moses goes agonisingly close to doubling Chelsea’s advantage after delightfully clipping the ball over the goalkeeper but the ball hits the post and comes back out.
40’ – SITTER! The ball is played across the face of goal and all Remy has to do is keep the ball low to grab his second of the game but he connects with his knee and the shot goes well over the bar. You will not see an easier chance this season!
50 – GOAL – New York Red Bulls 1-1 Chelsea! The hosts have equalised, Castellanos latching onto a really poor back pass from Terry, beating Begovic to the ball and tapping into an empty net.
62’ – CROSSBAR! Oscar whips the ball onto the head of Costa whose effort bounces against the crossbar. What a powerful man Costa is but he doesn’t get the luck he deserves on this occasion, firing over the rebound as well.
69’ – GOAL – New York Red Bulls 2-1 Chelsea! Incredible, Chelsea are behind as 16-year-old Tyler Adams heads the Red Bulls in front!
73’ – GOAL – New York Red Bulls 3-1 Chelsea! Oh my goodness, this is humiliating. Davis passes the ball into the back of the net after the Blues fail to clear a cross.
75’ – GOAL – New York Red Bulls 3-2 Chelsea! The visitors respond immediately through Hazard who rifles the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the penalty area from a well-worked free-kick.
77’ – GOAL, GOAL, GOAL! New York Red Bulls 4-2 Chelsea! This is unbelievable, Red Bulls have their fourth! Ramires makes a mess of his clearance and the ball falls to Davis who smashes the ball past a helpless Begovic.
TALKING POINT
Oh dear, oh dear Chelsea. Make no mistake, this was a strong Chelsea side which suffered defeat in the most embarrassing of ways to a second-string New York Red Bulls side. The English champions defence was all over the place in the second-half and they could have conceded more than four goals on the day. As well as the disastrous defending, Mourinho will also be disappointed with his side’s finishing as Remy and Diego Costa missed a host of chances.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls): A day the 16-year-old defender will never forget. Adams is still in high school, but he won’t have to worry about his homework should he fulfil his potential.
LINE-UPS
Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Zouma, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Fabregas, Mikel, Moses, Oscar, Traore, Remy. Subs: Begovic, Terry, Aina, Clarke-Salter, Chalobah, Matic, Loftus-Cheek, Hazard, Diego Costa, Solanke.
Red Bulls: Reynish, Miller, McLaws, Stolz, Obekop, Ouimette, Davis, Plewa, Tsonis, Adams, Bedoya. Subs: Castano, Williams, Akinyode, Castellanos, Manoslavas, Heffron, Da Fonte, Thomas, Metzger.
