AC Milan vs Chelsea - Pre Season American Tour (Friendly)

Let me begin by saying that my expectation for this match was pretty low, in fact I would have been very happy with a draw but our team managed to pleasantly surprise me.

In the first half, both teams played a testing game where each side was cautiously watching and sizing up the other team. In our fore wing we had Emmanuelson, El Shaarawy and Boateng with the help of Traore and Flamini in the mid field but our chances were very limited with Boateng not picking up his pace until the middle of the first half. Defensively, we had Bonera, Antonini and Yepes on their toes watching out for players like Eden Hazard and the big Lukaku.

Needless to say, the first half ended in a goal-less draw and we all looked forward to the second half hoping that Milan will hang on and hopefully play better in the second half.

The second half saw numerous changes by both teams with Montolivo, Abate, Nocerino, Ganz came in for the Milan squad. The deadlock was broken in the 68th minute when a blocked shot from El Shaarawy was rebounded by Emmanuelson into the Chelsea goal.

There was marked improvement in the Milan game play as the subs worked hard both in Midfield and defense to add pressure on the Chelsea defense and to stop Chelsea from moving forward and converting any of their chances.

With this I and a host of other Milan fans were happy to watch our team hang on to our one goal lead till the blowing of the final whistle.

Our team still has a long way to go but like I said earlier there is still hope for us and this match just gave us something to hold on to.
I look forward to seeing you at our next friendly match, ciao