Ugochukwu's Late Strike Rescues Chelsea in Preseason Test

 

The Blues scored a last-second equalizer in their last friendly before their first Premier League game, but they are still worryingly inefficient.

Lesley Ugochukwu scored the last-minute equalizer for Chelsea to avoid another pre-season loss. The Frenchman came off the bench to earn a 1-1 draw with Inter on Sunday afternoon.

The Blues controlled most of the game at Stamford Bridge, but they had trouble turning the ball into goals, just like they did a lot last season. They fell behind in the 26th minute when Marcus Thuram scored a powerful goal, thanks to some bad defense.

But Chelsea kept putting pressure on in the second half, and Ugochukwu scored a goal after the ball fell to him in the area for what seemed like the last kick of the game to earn Chelsea a draw.

 Christopher Nkunku

Would things have been very different for Chelsea in 2023–24 and France in Euro 2024 if Christopher Nkunku had been fully healthy?

This forward is a great player, and he showed it again at Stamford Bridge by almost tying the game with a beautiful overhead kick right after coming on. However, Yann Sommer made a great save.

He played well for the rest of the second half, and it wasn't a surprise that Chelsea scored the late equalizer after Nkunku had a shot saved.

Based on what we saw in preseason, Nkunku could finally make a big difference in the Premier League if he can stay healthy. He needs to do this right away because Cole Palmer is Maresca's only guaranteed source of goals.

Chelsea escaped what would have been their third straight pre-season loss and their fourth in six games, which made Enzo Maresca very happy at the end of the game.

That said, the former Leicester manager will know that Chelsea could be in better shape before their first Premier League game against Manchester City.

It was very worrying that his team let Yann Biseck get out of defense and set up Thuram's first goal. It also worried that Chelsea didn't have a cutting edge, which cost them a lot last season.

Of course, Maresca will be happy that his team fought until the very end, but the truth is that they have only won one friendly this summer and don't look like they have the skills to beat City next Sunday.