Perth: Maurizio Sarri made a winning start as Chelsea boss after Pedro’s early goal proved enough to beat Perth Glory 1-0 in a friendly game here, Monday.
Former Barcelona forward Pedro stabbed home from six yards after being set up by 17-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi. Hudson-Odoi was one of three teenagers to start along with Polish keeper Marcin Bulka, 18, and 17-year-old Wales defender Ethan Ampadu.
Midfielder Jorginho, who joined the Blues after a 50mn pound move from Napoli, also started and showed his class in his debut game for the London club against the Australian A-League team.
Sarri, who replaced fellow Italian Antonio Conte earlier this month, said after the game that Chelsea still had work to do before the start of the season. “We lost the distance between the defenders and the midfielders, but we know we have to work, we have to improve very quickly. It’s not easy at this moment because we are without 12 players from the World Cup,” said the former Napoli coach.
“It has been a difficult week with a long flight, jet lag, but at the end of the week I can say we have worked well, and we have played a good match for 60 minutes,” added Sarri.
Chelsea will next head to Nice where they face Italian club Inter Milan in the International Champions Cup Saturday before taking on Arsenal in Dublin, August 1 in the same tournament.