Chelsea manager, Xabi Alonso, marked the beginning of his tenure with an entertaining victory as the Blues edged Western Sydney Wanderers 6-4 in a thrilling pre-season encounter on Tuesday, inspired by Joao Pedro’s devastating nine-minute hat-trick.
The Brazilian striker came off the bench to rescue Chelsea after they had fallen behind three different times, sealing a dramatic comeback at Stadium Australia in Alonso’s first game since taking charge on July 1.
With several senior players unavailable for the club’s pre-season tour, Alonso fielded a youthful starting line-up that played the opening hour, giving a number of academy prospects the opportunity to impress.
Chelsea made the perfect start when 17-year-old Kazakh forward Dastan Satpaev announced himself on debut, finishing confidently in the sixth minute after being released by Ryan Kavuma-McQueen.
The lead lasted only briefly as Anthony Pantazopoulos equalised from a corner eight minutes later, exposing Chelsea’s defensive frailties.
The hosts then turned the game around when Aydan Hammond capitalised on another lapse at the back to make it 2-1.
Chelsea restored parity before half-time through Portuguese youngster Dario Essugo, who completed a slick passing move with Reggie Walsh before calmly finding the far corner to make it 2-2.
Western Sydney regained the advantage early in the second half when Dylan Scicluna spun away from his marker and finished neatly for 3-2 in the 62nd minute.
Alonso reacted immediately by making nine substitutions, introducing several experienced names, including Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro.
The changes transformed Chelsea’s attacking rhythm, although the Wanderers still managed to restore their lead at 4-3 in the end-to-end contest.
Pedro then stole the spotlight, producing a clinical nine-minute hat-trick to complete Chelsea’s comeback and hand Alonso a memorable first victory in charge.
The result provides an early confidence boost for the former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen coach, who is tasked with rebuilding Chelsea after last season’s disappointing 10th-place Premier League finish and failure to qualify for European competition.
Chelsea continue their pre-season schedule on Saturday against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Stadium Australia before travelling to Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia for additional friendly matches.
The Blues have strengthened their squad with the arrivals of Morgan Rogers, Geovany Quenda, Marco Palestra and Emmanuel Emegha this summer.
However, only Palestra travelled on the current tour, while several international stars, including Reece James and Enzo Fernández, remain unavailable following World Cup commitments.
Alonso began the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Josh Acheampong, Liam Delap and captain Tosin Adarabioyo providing experience alongside a host of academy graduates in an encouraging, if defensively vulnerable, opening outing.
