An ecstatic crowd could be heard loud and clear at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Malaysia as Chelsea visited Johor Darul Ta’zim in their last preseason match in Asia. Since it was only 24 hours ago that the Blues beat AC Milan in Indonesia on a 3-0 scoreline, it was no surprise our starting eleven and the squad had only a few players that featured in the previous outing.
One of the banners in the home crowd read “Don’t mess with JDT” and they quickly showed why that was the case. A team on an 108-game
unbeaten streak in domestic matches, even if the Malaysian Super League isn’t a top-shelf competition in Asia, is nothing to scoff at.
Chelsea dominated the pitch but Johor were happy to show their fangs in counter-attacks. One of those finally connected for them, with Marcos Guilherme assisting Arif Aiman for the opening goal.
Even though Chelsea continued to be the better team in ball retention this didn’t translate into goalscoring chances. To make matters worse the hosts looked ever more dangerous with their counters, getting more touches in the final third and in the box than us.
We did manage to keep the ball in the box for a few seconds. That was enough for Liam Delap to earn a penalty and convert it with a well-taken shot to equalise it for us.
The balance of play didn’t change in the second part of the match, as Johor forced Gabriel Slonina – who had just entered the pitch as a substitute for Teddy Sharman-Lowe – to intervene very early into the half. And then again, it took Chelsea just a few seconds of ball retention in the box for the hosts to give up a penalty. This time it was Jamie Gittens who was fouled, and Delap duly converted it a second time today.
Too bad we couldn’t hold onto the lead for long. Not even five minutes after Delap’s penalty kick, Óscar Arribas’ free kick was deflected into a top bins equaliser for Johor.
A 2-2 scoreline would suffice to tell the whole story of the match. Johor had a different idea as Brazilian striker Bergson, having entered the pitch just a few minutes before, got the hosts in the lead. This time we would be the ones to pay in kind with Liam Delap’s wayward header in the box becoming an own goal in our favour to make it all equal for a third time around.
- Only nine players on the bench.
- Unfortunate injury for Aaron Anselmino, who has been one of Chelsea’s best players this preseason.
- Unsure as to what was the point in Johor trying to break Chelsea players’ ankles in every challenge for the ball.
- Next up: Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge.
- KTBFFH.
