It was a night to forget for Chelsea and their fans when they lost the second game of their tour to Charlotte FC in penalties.
Thomas Tuchel would have liked to continue with the momentum after their win over Club America in Las Vegas. They won the match 2-1. Chelsea went into halftime with a 1-0 lead over the hosts. However, an injury-time equalizer and a missed penalty from Conor Gallagher led to Charlotte winning the match 5-3 on penalties.
The team that played against Charlotte was fraught with changes not only with players but also with their positions. Like Emerson Palmieri played on the left-hand side of the three defenders. Moreover, Calum Hudson-Odoi played as the right-wing back and Michy Batshuayi was chosen to lead from the middle.
After a delayed kick-off both the teams started off strongly. Both Mateo Kovacic and Karol Swiderski saw their shots saved by the opponent’s goalkeepers. Still, Chelsea went into halftime with a lead. The goal was scored by Christian Pulisic.
He wittily buried the ball in the back of the net after Batshuayi’s shot was diverted in his direction by the goalkeeper.
An unfortunate start for Chelsea’s young talent Conor Gallagher
The English team tried hard to extend their lead with Batshuayi and Marcos Alonso’s shots being saved. Therefore, Charlotte went into the break trailing by just a goal. Tuchel made wholesale changes to his team after the break. He introduced a new signing Raheem Sterling.
Levi Colwill earned his place in the defensive line and Ethan Ampadu was introduced alongside Gallagher in the middle of the pitch. Charlotte now started to attack more piercingly higher up the pitch. Mason Mount and Sterling also went very close to scoring for the Blues.
However, in the last minutes of the clock, a tackle from Trevor Chalobah resulted in a penalty for Charlotte. Daniel Rios made no mistake in converting the penalty.
In the penalties, a rather weak penalty from Gallagher led to Charlotte winning the match against Chelsea.
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