Ryan Noble climbs off the bench to secure a win for Sunderland against FC Groningen, in a game that sees Carlos Cuellar and Wes Brown both limp out of the action in the first-half. Roberto Di Matteo introduces the likes of John Terry and Ashley Cole into the fray against Paris St-Germain, but Chelsea are forced to rely on a late strike to earn a hard-fought draw…
Sunderland 3 FC Groningen 2
The Black Cats finished in third place in the Peace Cup after a last-gasp victory over FC Groningen. Ben Wilson was handed a starting role between the sticks after Simon Mignolet picked up a minor groin problem in training, while Carlos Cuellar took his place in the first XI after impressing as a sub in the previous match with Seongnam, as Martin O’Neill opted for a 4-3-3 for the match against the Dutch side. Sunderland took the lead against the run of play through Connor Wickham but went in at the break 2-1 down after Cuellar and Wes Brom both limped off injured.
The second half saw O’Neill hand opportunities to a number of youngsters but the Premier League outfit failed to make their threat count, with Wickham and Campbell, in particular, missing chances aplenty. Sunderland’s final substitute, Ryan Noble, came on with just 13 minutes remaining and his spark helped turn the match in his side’s favour. Noble set up Campbell to score with just two minutes remaining before then finding the net himself with a superb solo effort, beating three men before hammering home from 18 yards – a fine way to score his first senior goal for the club.
Post-match, O’Neill gave an injury update and didn’t seem overly concerned on Mignolet or Cuellar; good news for Fantasy managers eyeing up the latter at 4.5 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game.
“Simon had a groin problem today and we decided not to risk him in the game. Wes has done some damage and that’s a concern, while Carlos complained of his thigh being sore.”
Sunderland Starting XI: Wilson (Pickford 64); Gardner, Brown (Egan 37), Cuellar (Bramble 13), Richardson (Noble 77); Colback, Cattermole, Meyler; Lynch (Laing 60), Campbell, Wickham.
Paris St-Germain 1 Chelsea 1
Chelsea won a share of the spoils in their second game of their US tour thanks to a late strike from 18-year-old Brazilian Lucas Piazon. The striker came off the bench to combine with compatriot Ramires and claw the Londoners level.
Roberto Di Matteo kept faith with five of the side that took the field last time out against Seattle Sounders: Paulo Ferreira, David Luiz, John Mikel Obi, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku were all retained in the starting lineup.
There were several points of interest here: firstly we again saw a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Hazard getting an hour of pitch time, playing up behind the lone striker, Lukaku. The Chelsea boss emphasised the options he has with the Belgian in his post-match statements…
“Hazard is a versatile player and he can play on the wing and he can play in the middle and that is where we are using him, but it depends on the options we have because once everyone is back we will have more of those.”
Di Matteo then went on to confirm that the 4-2-3-1 will likely remain over the course of the season…
“This formation is a shape that we used at the end of last season and it has served us well. We are trying two shapes in practice as well to be ready for all eventualities, and it will also depends on the players we will have available.”
Both statements will increase confidence in Hazard as a Fantasy option for next season, although clearly, as Di Matteo mentions, there are options to come into to the equation – most notably Juan Mata.
Frustratingly, we’ve yet to see Branislav Ivanovic at right-back. The Serb skippered the side from the centre of defence against Seattle and came off the bench yesterday to replace David Luiz. Di Matteo has started Ferreira at left-back while he waits for Ashley Cole’s return, with youngsters Sam Hutchinson and Nathaniel Chalobah taking up duties on the right over the two friendlies. So far then, we’ve had little assurance that Ivanovic will be free to claim the right-back role for next season.
Elsewhere, the Chelsea boss was able to welcome back some Euro 2012 players, with John Terry, Ashley Cole and Petr Cech all seeing their first action of the pre-season. Chelsea face MLS All-Starts on Wednesday – a game which should see the likes of Cole and Terry considered for starts which might well offer us more clues as to Di Matteo’s thinking for his defence. Fernando Torres is yet to join up with the party, but is being lined up for a possible run-out at the weekend.
Chelsea Starting XI: Cech (Turnbull 62); Hutchinson (Chalobah 62), Cahill (Terry 62), David Luiz (Ivanovic 45), Ferreira (Cole 62); Mikel (McEachran 62), Lampard (Essien 45); De Bruyne (Marin 45), Hazard (Malouda 62), Kakuta (Ramires 45); Lukaku (Piazon 62).
