Source: Daily_Mail
Chelsea 4 Kitchee 0: Blues book Barclays Asia Trophy final place
Chelsea crushed Kitchee with a four goal exhibition for their Asian fans and Andre Villas-Boas' saw his team play with extra fluency in a new tactical formation.[LNB]The goals came from Didier Drogba, Daniel Sturridge, a Frank Lampard penalty and an own goal against the Hong Kong champions to book a place in Saturday's Barclays Asia trophy against Aston Villa.[LNB]For the first time, Villas-Boas sent out his team to start in a 4231 system with new roles for Lampard and Yury Zhirkov, both deployed as the deep midfielders.[LNB] Drog bite: Didier Drogba hit the target in Chelsea's comfortable win[LNB] [LNB]Drogba impressed up front. So did Yossi Benayoun, who played in the hole and wide-men Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda.[LNB]Fernando Torres started on the bench as expected after playing 60 minutes against Thai All Stars on Sunday.[LNB]MATCH FACTSCHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Turnbull (Hilario 65); Ferreira, Rajkovic (Chalobah 77), Terry (Ivanovic 65), Cole; Lampard (Mikel 65), Zhirkov (McEachran 62); Kalou, Benayoun, Malouda (Sturridge 62), Drogba (Torres 62)[LNB]KITCHEE (4-1-4-1): Zhenpeng; To (Quankum 46), Comi, Santana, R.Rodriguez (Gee 82); Wen (Evens 54); Paramo (Kwan 23), Yang (Yee 74), Guerrero, Zicheng (Kei 59 (Fung)); D.Rodriguez. [LNB]Villas-Boas has rotated his players carefully to ensure they are brought gradually towards peak fitness. Petr Cech was not even named among the substitutes after making his first appearance of pre-season in Bangkok.[LNB]In their new team shape, Chelsea looked more fluent in possession than they did during their previous three friendlies but it was hard to evaluate the defensive merits of thesystem because Kitchee barely went forward.[LNB]The Hong Kong champions were cheered on by the local supporters and the stadium which was perhaps half-full earlier in the day for Aston Villa and Blackburn was near capacity but the home team were badly out of their depth.[LNB]Apart from an ambitious dipping volley from 40 yards from Huang Yang they rarely threatened either Ross Turnbull or Henrique Hilario in the Chelsea goal. At the other end, there was plenty of traffic. [LNB]Kalou headed against the bar early inthe game and Kitchee goalkeeper Wang Zhenpeng managed to keep out a swerving free-kick from Drogba, although he seemed to have no idea quitehow. The ball diverted high into the airspace above his goal and somehow his defenders scrambled it away.[LNB] Leading the way: Frank Lampard was on form and the midfielder opened the scoring with a first-half penalty[LNB] [LNB]Lampard opened the scoring, driving apenalty firmly down the centre of the goal after Benayoun's jinking runwas ended abruptly with a crude sliding tackle.[LNB]Chelsea ought to have been awarded another penalty when Daniel Rodriguez seemed to stop a shot from Maloudawith his arm but referee Phil Dowd thought differently and played on.[LNB] Stuck in: Chelsea's Yury Zhirkov battles for the ball with Kitchee's Lo Chi Kwan (R)[LNB] [LNB]Against probably the weakest team they have played on this Asian tour, Drogba played with real desire and aggression. He whipped another free-kick just over and then played a crucial role in the second goal.[LNB]Malouda worked some space on the leftand pulled a low cross into the goalmouth where Kitchee centre-half Ubay Santana sliced it into his own net, with the Ivorian on his shoulder. It was Chelsea's third own goal in four pre-season games.[LNB] Long way round: Florent Malouda fails to connect with his effort despite rounding the keeper[LNB] [LNB]Drogba finally scored the goal his performance deserved moments before he was replaced by Torres. Again Malouda was the provider from the left and Drogba stooped to convert it with a brave header at the back post.[LNB]Villas-Boas made six changes and finished in the same formation with Mikel and Josh McEachran deep in midfield, Sturridge wide on the right and Torres up front.[LNB] Fan-tastic: Fans in Hong Kong were in full support for Chelsea[LNB] [LNB]Sturridge made it 4-0 with a fantastic solo goal. He spun away from his marker with a step-over and squeezed a right-footer past the 'keeper from a narrow angle.[LNB]Torres didn't score but don't mentionit. The Chelsea manager thinks the whole world is unfairly obsessed with the ?50million striker.[LNB]Torres did hit the post, however, with a superb effort from distance.[LNB] Unlucky again: Torres torment in front of goal continues but the Spaniard came close late on when he hit the post[LNB] CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE FANTASY FOOTBALL GAMEAston Villa 1 Blackburn 0: Bent fires winner to seal Barlcays Asia Trophy openerChelsea attempt to defend Torres from the 'media obsession' with misfiring striker No signings, no problem: Villas-Boas relaxed about Chelsea's title assault All the latest Chelsea news, features and opinion [LNB]
