Chelsea vs. Singha All-Stars: Score, Recap and Post-Match Reaction

In the first friendly of the new season with Jose Mourinho in charge, Chelsea earned a 1-0 victory over the Singha All-Stars. 

The squad came into the matching knowing it would not be easy. The same Thailand All-Star team defeated Manchester United, 1-0, earlier in the week.

Fortunately, the squad came prepared and played well enough to earn the victory.

Instead of utilizing an "A-team" and "B-team" in the match, Mourinho decided to split up his best players to get a good look at as many guys as possible.

Chelsea's official Twitter account announced the starting lineup prior to the match:

The most interesting part was the front line, which featured a number of young and talented players looking for a place on the first team now and in the future. Although the only goal was from a penalty, this group did extremely well.

Both Kevin De Bruyne and Andre Schurrle were active on the offensive end, making great runs and creating quality scoring chances throughout the first half.

Brazilian defender Wallace then made the biggest move of the day when he attacked the goal and was brought down in the box by Lazarus Kaimbi. Romelu Lukaku then scored from the spot, as noted by Jon Holmes of Sky Sports:

The young forward fired the shot to the bottom left of the goal and looked extremely confident in the moment. This is a great sign going forward, as Lukaku looks to be a big part of the offense this season.

After the score remained 1-0 at halftime, there were a number of changes to the lineup:

In the second half, many of the regular contributors helped Chelsea keep control of the match, although there was not much to show for it.

The squad had some chances in the final 45 minutes. Demba Ba missed a shot wide, Eden Hazard's shot was saved by the keeper and Victor Moses also had a good look, but they were unable to get anything into the back of the net.

However, the solid passing allowed the midfield to hold possession and prevent more than a couple of chances from the opposing team, as the Blues held on for the 1-0 victory.

As this fan notes, getting the win is usually all that matters:

This refers to the fact that Manchester United and Manchester City each lost their opening contests.

Considering these Singha All-Stars recently defeated the defending EPL champs, Chelsea should feel happy about this performance. There were plenty of mistakes, but that should be expected from the first match of the season.

However, there was plenty of solid play from guys like De Bruyne, Ryan Bertrand and others to provide some encouragement going forward.

What's Next?

Chelsea will continue their tour of Asia with a match on July 21 against Malaysia XI. The contest will take place in Kuala Lumpur, and it will provide yet another chance for the squad to prepare for the regular season.

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