Eden Hazard and Marko Marin both notch on their Chelsea debuts as the Blues taste victory in Seattle, while Gylfi Sigurdsson takes just 10 minutes to find the net in his Tottenham bow. Federico Macheda scores the only goal of the game as United squeeze past South African side AmaZulu, Billy Sharp grabs three for Southampton, Marcello Trotta bags a brace for Fulham and Nathan Delfouneso ensures Villa win again:
Seattle Sounders 2 Chelsea 4
Chelsea’s two debutants both notched on their debuts as Roberto Di Matteo’s side started their pre-season on a winning note. Romelu Lukaku is the only available striker in the Blues travelling squad at the moment and bagged a brace in the 4-2 win, with this performance perhaps suggesting he should be confident of a place in the first-team squad next term, despire rumours of a loan deal. Marko Marin and Eden Hazard both impressed with a goal apiece, with the former also providing an assist for Lukaku’s second. Josh McEachran produced a pair of assists for the visitors but was also at fault for the hosts’ opener before making way at half time. Di Matteo made plenty of changes after the break, with the likes of Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Ramires and new boy Kevin De Bruyne all featuring but, despite the introduction of fresh legs, there were no more goals in the second 45 from the away side.
Chelsea First Half: Hilario; Chalobah, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Ferreira; Mikel, McEachran; Benayoun, Hazard, Marin; Lukaku.
Chelsea Second Half: Blackman; Hutchinson, Ivanovic (Kane 63), Cahill, Ferreira (Saville 63); Essien, Lampard (c); Ramires, Hazard (Kakuta 63), De Bruyne, Lukaku (Piazon 63).
AmaZulu 0 Man United 1
Sir Alex Ferguson started with a front three for the first match of United’s pre-season, with Federico Macheda and Javier Hernandez on either side of Dimitar Berbatov. The likes of Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick added a wealth of experience to a team which included many youngsters making their senior bow for the Old Trafford side. Berbatov was superb throughout, pulling the strings from the central position, and aside from teeing up the game’s only goal for Macheda, was unlucky not to find the net himself on a couple of occasions. Anders Lindegaard was called into action a number of times and was equal to the task, helping the visitors retain their clean sheet, while Shinji Kagawa was afforded a mere two minutes as a substitute towards the end as United comfortably saw out the match.
United Starting XI: Lindegaard; Veseli (Vermijl 46), Wootton, Ferdinand, Brady (Blackett 58); Carrick, Scholes (Tunnicliffe 70), Lingard (Petrucci 70); Hernandez (Kagawa 89), Berbatov, Macheda (Anderson 58).
Stevenage 0 Spurs 2
Andre Villas-Boas rolled out a 4-2-3-1 for his first game in charge at Spurs as the London outfit chalked up a 2-0 win. Youngster Harry Kane led the line, with David Bentley in “the hole” behind and Steven Pienaar and Aaron Lennon on the flanks. At the back, Kyle Naughton was fielded at left-back as Benoit Assou-Ekotto is still recovering from a shoulder operation and Danny Rose is with the Great Britain Olympic squad. Spurs offered little in the first 45 but Villas-Boas made seven half-time alterations, with new boys Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen both handed their debuts; the former needed just 10 minutes to open his Spurs account, with Andros Towsend the creator. Both players could have picked up assists after teeing up Souleymane Coulibaly with chances but the youngster spurned his opportunities to put Spurs further ahead. Right-back Adam Smith set up the second, feeding Iago Falque to put the match beyond the hosts side’s reach late on.
The Spurs boss revealed post-match that his tactics and formation were mainly based on what the current squad are used to – with changes to personnel and team shape expected, Villas-Boas went on to explain:
It’s nothing uncommon with what Tottenham have done in the recent past, playing with the No10 behind the striker…I think it’s what the players at the moment feel the most comfortable with. Of course changes will come when we need them. Eventually we will go to the market when we think it is appropriate. There will not be a lot of changes, but steadily we will bring in players.
Tottenham Starting XI: Cudicini (Friedel 46), Walker (Smith 61), Kaboul (Gallas 46), Dawson (Vertonghen 46), Naughton (Bassong 46), Livermore (Carroll 46), Jenas (Huddlestone 61), Bentley (Townsend 46), Lennon (Falque 61), Pienaar (Sigurdsson 46), Kane (Coulibaly 61)
Étoile Carouge 1 Southampton 4
Nigel Adkins fielded a 4-3-2-1 formation as Saints came from behind to record a comfortable win in Switzerland last night. The Southampton boss started with three of last season’s first-choice back-four, with Danny Butterworth also selected at right-back, while Rickie Lambert was flanked by Guly and Jason Puncheon up front. Guly caught the eye with a strong performance, while Adam Lallana went close on a couple of occasions but, despite their dominance, the visitors went behind courtesy of a Jos Hooiveld own goal. Adkins made nine changes at the break as his side stepped up a gear; Calum Chambers was handed a role in central midfield and provided a pair of assists, while Billy Sharp ran riot and bagged a hat-trick, with fellow-sub Luke Shaw also getting amongst the goals.
Southampton Starting XI: Davis (Forecast 46); Butterfield (Richardson 46), Fonte (Stephens 46), Hooiveld (Seaborne 46), Fox (Harding 46); Schneiderlin (Hammond 46), Ward-Prowse, Lallana (Chambers 46); Puncheon (Chaplow 67), Guly (Shaw 46); Lambert (Sharp 46).
Lokomitive Leipzig 0 Fulham 4
Marcello Trotta was the stand-out performer as Fulham strolled to victory in Germany. Handed a starting role up front, the young Italian notched twice in the first 45 before making way after the break as Martin Jol made nine changes. New boy Sascha Riether impressed at right-back, while Mladen Petric opened his Cottagers account after some fine work by Kerim Frei. With Jol rolling out many of his more experienced campaigner in the second half, Fulham were in complete control and Lauri Della Valle turned in the fourth after a knock down by Mahamadou Diarra.
Fulham, First Half: Stockdale; Riether, Hughes (c), Halliche, Riise; Etuhu, Gecov, Sidwell; Mesca, Trotta, Kacaniklic.
Second Half: Schwarzer; Riether (Brister 70), Baird, Hangeland, Briggs; Davies, Dembele, Diarra, Kacaniklic (Della Valle 70), Petric, Frei
Philadelphia Union 0 Aston Villa 1
Paul Lambert saw his new side racked up their second straight win thanks to Nathan Delfouneso. Starting alongside Darren Bent up front, Delfouneso was a constant menace to the home side and fired most of his side’s efforts as Villa took control in the first half. Ciaran Clark was another who received particular praise from the Villa official website for his display alongside James Collins in the heart of the back-four before making way for Richard Dunne last on. Lambert fielded 21 players last night, with keeper Brad Guzan the only player to manage the full 90 minutes in the 1-0 win.
Villa Starting XI: Guzan, Lowton (Lichaj, 60), Collins (Dunne, 66), Clark (Baker, 66), Warnock (Stephens, 60), El Ahmadi (Herd, 56), Holman (Gardner, 60), Bannan (Delph, 56), Ireland (N’Zogbia 46) Delfouneso (Weimann, 52), Bent (Agbonlahor, 52).
