Chelsea came away 3-1 winners over AC Milan, as an Oscar brace helped Antonio Conte’s team end their U.S. tour with a convincing result.
The West London club secured a victory in their International Champions Cup finale in front of a sold-out 64,101-strong crowd in the first sporting event ever to be held at US Bank Stadium, the brand-new, $1.1-billion home of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.
Second-half substitute Oscar scored the decisive tally from the penalty spot in the 70th minute, after Keisuke Honda had been guilty of handling a Cesar Azpilicueta cross in the box, and then the Brazil international added an insurance goal three minutes before full-time.
With star wide men Eden Hazard and Pedro, plus new striker Michy Batshuayi, on the bench in the first half, midfielder Victor Moses and forward Bertrand Traore took advantage of their opportunity.
The Nigeria international, who’s spent each of the past three seasons on loan away from Stamford Bridge, was fed into space along Chelsea’s left flank by Nemanja Matic, who quickly turned play over in transition. Moses turned in a blistering shot that was palmed away by Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the rebound fell directly into the path of Traore, who simply nodded home after 24 minutes.
Milan clawed their way back into the game as the first period progressed, with M’Baye Niang looking dangerous throughout the opening 45 minutes. The equalizer came on 38 minutes, when the Frenchman walked away from a 20-yard free kick, which Giacomo Bonaventura duly struck up and over the wall, eluding Thibaut Courtois’ outstretched arms.
Three minutes after the restart, Niang was it again. First drawing in Chelsea’s defence from the top of the box before feeding Ignazio Abate, who narrowly missed the target from 18 yards out, before turning Ola Aina inside out and slicing a shot wide of the far post himself.
Ten minutes later, it was Chelsea who were presented with a golden opportunity of their own. Hazard, who’d come on at the 52-minute mark, saw Willian sprinting into acres of space on the right side and sent a searching through ball into the Brazilian’s stride. Willian’s shot stung the palms of Donnarumma, who had to acrobatically dive backward to keep the rebound from dribbling into his net.
After 69 minutes, Honda was whistled for handling Azpilicueta’s cross and Oscar coolly picked the top right corner, sneaking his spot kick past the extended frame of Donnarumma.
With three minutes of regular time remaining, the Brazilian added a second to extend Chelsea’s lead to 3-1 with an arrowed shot from the right edge of Donnarumma’s area that nestled neatly into the far corner.
