Two moments of individual inspiration gave Chelsea a 2-1 victory against Hungarian side Ferencváros in the first game ever played at the Groupama Arena. With only two days having passed since the Blues' last pre-season outing, a charity tournament against Besiktas and Fenerbahçe in Istanbul, Jose Mourinho elected to give starting minutes to youngsters Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen in defence and recent World Cup returnees Ramires, Willian and Andre Schurrle in midfield. The lack of fitness and experience in the side weighed heavily on Chelsea in the first half. Their ponderous football struggled to break down a Ferencváros side pressing aggressively and playing out from the back. An early cross from Daniel Nagy found Attila Busai at the far post, but the striker sliced his shot over the crossbar before being ruled offside. Chelsea responded with Schurrle picking up the ball with his back to goal in Ferencváros penalty area and feeding Didier Drogba, whose deflected shot was palmed away by keeper Dibusz. The Hungarian keeper was called into action again moments later to deny Schurrle an opportunity of his own. It was Ferencváros who took the lead in the 17th minute, in uncomfortably similar circumstances to the Busai chance from earlier in the game. Nagy found space on the right to whip in a looping cross and Zoltan Gera, formerly of West Brom, snuck away from the inattentive Kurt Zouma to slam home from point blank range. It wasn't the first time Zouma's positioning has been called into question this pre-season and Mourinho may have reason to be nervous about the lack of experienced defensive cover in his squad. Torres, ostensibly deployed on the left but spending a considerable amount of time infield, was struggling to find his touch as Chelsea pressed forward. One hesitates to add 'as usual' to the end of that sentence, but with two Torr-ific misses already under his belt already this pre-season, signs are not encouraging even before the competitive football starts in earnest. Didier Drogba was lively and tested Disbusz a couple of times before going off with an ankle injury on the half-hour mark. Early rumours put the Ivorian out for up to six months with damaged ligaments, possibly curtailing what remains of the 36-year old's playing career and delivering a major blow to José Mourinho's preparations. If the first half was reminiscent of Chelsea's struggles last season against defensive sides - Ferencváros often seemed to be playing a flat back five - the tempo improved markedly with the introduction of Salah, Costa and Fabregas for the second half, all of whom are now several weeks into their pre-season training. An air-kick following a Nagy pull-back could have doubled Ferencváros's advantage early on, but Chelsea dominated the game thereafter and equalised through a glorious Ramires half-volley. The Brazilian collected the ball on the edge of the area from a half-cleared Salah cross and instinctively fired the ball into the roof of the net. Chelsea almost added another through a Gary Cahill header against the far post from a Cesc Fabregas cross. Ivanovic narrowly missed knocking in the rebound, and with many of the Blues' defenders upfield, Chelsea were fortunate to see a promising Ferencváros two-vs-one counter break down due to an inexact final pass. The arrival of Victor Moses for Azpilicueta signalled Chelsea's shift into a 3-5-2 formation, with Ivanovic, Cahill and Zouma forming the back three and Salah enjoying the freedom of the left flank until being replaced by Nathan Aké for the final ten minutes. The new formation expanded Chelsea's play and Ferencváros seemed unsure how to react, spending the last twenty minutes of the game parked in their own area. Chances came and went for Oscar and Nathan Aké, but just as it seemed Chelsea would have to settle for the draw, Cesc Fabregas collected the ball on the right, spun his marker, skipped past what seemed like the entire population of Hungary before dispatching the ball past Dibusz at the near post. The goal was more than a little reminiscent of Diego Costa's graceful run and finish against Fenerbahçe on Friday, but when Fabregas presented his international teammate with a chance to grab one for himself in the 90th minute, his placed shot rolled narrowly wide. Chelsea ended the game comfortably on top and with another victory in hand, though the limited match fitness of Schurrle, Oscar and Willian may be a cause for concern. The Blues' final pre-season friendly, at home to Real Sociedad on Tuesday, should provide the best indicator of the squad's readiness ahead of the trip to Burnley for their opening Premier League game in eight days' time. As for tonight, Mourinho can at least take solace that his side at least has the individual quality to win matches, even if the team performance has not yet fully come together. Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Chelsea: Cech (Schwarzer 46), Azpilicueta (Moses 60), Christensen (Cahill 46), Zouma (Ake 75), Luis (Ivanovic 46); Mikel (Hazard 46), Ramires (Matic 61); Schurrle (Salah 46 (Van Ginkel 79)), Willian (Fabregas 46), Torres (Costa 46); Drogba (Oscar 28).
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
