Kevin De Bruyne and a last-gasp Andre Schurrle goal were decisive, as Chelsea beat Milan 2-0 in an extremely tight New York game.
Chelsea go on to face Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid in the Miami Guinness International Champions Cup Final on August 8, while Milan take on LA Galaxy the same day.
Kevin De Bruyne and a last-gasp Andre Schurrle goal were decisive, as Chelsea beat Milan 2-0 in an extremely tight New York game.
Chelsea go on to face Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid in the Miami Guinness International Champions Cup Final on August 8, while Milan take on LA Galaxy the same day.
The Rossoneri beat Valencia 2-1 in their first game, but welcomed Mario Balotelli and Riccardo Montolivo back with new signing Matias Silvestre thrown straight in. Mattia De Sciglio, Daniele Bonera, Jherson Vergara, Philippe Mexes, Giampaolo Pazzini and Robinho are all injured. Chelsea defeated Inter 2-0, but Jose Mourinho was still without Frank Lampard and opted to bench Fernando Torres.
Branislav Ivanovic forced an early save at the near post with a backheel flick and nodded wide from a free kick, while Stephan El Shaarawy and Kevin-Prince Boateng scuffed from promising positions.
Balotelli blasted a free kick into the wall and Demba Ba straight at Abbiati from a corner. El Shaarawy squirmed away from defenders to set up Sulley Muntari, whose angled drive was palmed away by Petr Cech and Ivanovic dived in to stop Balotelli getting the follow-up.
However, moments later Chelsea broke the deadlock with Kevin De Bruyne’s precise angled drive after a fine passing move and Oscar assist.
John Terry was one of several substitutes and smashed his scissor-kick volley wide from a corner. Victor Moses skipped past Urby Emanuelson only to fire over from a tight angle, while Montolivo wasted a couple of chances from distance and Ramires needed a crucial tackle on Mbaye Niang in the box.
Abbiati smothered two Juan Mata strikes and Muntari ran a risk with his clumsy yet effective challenge on Mata.
Boateng should’ve equalised on 70 minutes, but wasted the opportunity with a poor finish. Chelsea broke on the counter with a Fernando Torres slalom, but he was eventually crowded out.
Mark Schwarzer was alert to intercept a deflected M’Baye Niang pull-back and Antonio Nocerino couldn’t redirect the header from Niang’s cross.
Niang was very lively after coming off the bench and forced Gary Cahill to charge down a dangerous shot.
Schurrle went close to scoring a second for Chelsea with a first-time effort over from a Moses assist. On 80 minutes Milan had a series of attempts charged down in the box from Andrea Petagna, Niang and Andrea Poli, as Chelsea held out under pressure.
Mourinho’s men made the result safe deep into stoppages with a Schurrle volley that left Abbiati stranded.
Chelsea 2-0 Milan
Scorers: De Bruyne 29 (C), Schurrle 92 (C)
Chelsea: Cech (Schwarzer 46); Azpilicueta (Terry 46), Ivanovic, Cahill, Bertrand (Cole 46); Van Ginkel (Mikel 66), Essien (Ramires 46); De Bruyne (Moses 46), Oscar (Mata 46), Hazard (Schurrle 69); Ba (Torres 46) (Lukaku 86)
Milan: Abbiati; Emanuelson (Poli 69), Zapata (Constant 69), Silvestre (Cristante 77), Antonini (Zaccardo 46); Muntari, De Jong (Pacifico 77), Montolivo (Nocerino 57); KP Boateng (K Boateng 77), Balotelli (Petagna 46), El Shaarawy (Niang 57)