x

Chelsea Are Beaten As Stoke And Sunderland Win

There were three more Premier League teams in action yesterday with Stoke scoring six in Wrexham and Sunderland also won but the Champions tasted defeat in their first pre-season game

Wrexham 0 Stoke City 6

Stoke City ended their first pre-season friendly of the summer on British soil in emphatic fashion after beating Vanarama National League side Wrexham.

The Potters hit the Welsh side for six at the Racecourse Ground as a brace from Jonathan Walters and others from Mame Diouf, Marco van Ginkel, Joselu and Dominic Telford secured a satisfying victory.

It was a satisfying night for Mark Hughes against his home town side and he said after the game "It was a good workout for us and it was important to give a number of the other players who didn't get game time in Singapore a run-out

"Almost all the group have now had a good amount of minutes and we are all at a good level of fitness and we look forward to the Brentford game at the weekend.

"I thought overall we performed with the correct manner because sometimes you can take lower league opposition for granted."

Toronto FC 1 Sunderland 2

Sunderland rounded off their pre-season tour of North America with a win over Toronto FC thanks to Jermain Defoe's two goals against his former club.

The MLS side led just after the break thanks to a composed finish from Jonathan Osorio, but Sunderland responded as two well-taken efforts from Defoe earned his side the win.

The first goal, in the 65th minute, was a reward for Defoe's persistence in a scramble on the edge of the area. The second came along four minutes later, courtesy of a flowing counter-attack led by Adam Johnson.

Dick Advocaat: "It was a good win; the players gave everything to get a better result than the previous two games.

"We’ve had a 12-day pre-season camp with two training sessions every day and performances will improve when we don’t train as often.

"We were much improved in the second half from the first.”

New York Red Bulls 4 Chelsea 2

Chelsea were beaten in their pre-season fixture against the New York Red Bulls after conceding four goals in the second half

Loic Remy opened the scoring in an entertaining start the pre-season campaign of the Champions with Eden Hazard finding the net in the second half, but four goals after the break from the MLS outfit won the game.

Chelsea fielded vastly different sides in each half, with only three players asked to complete the 90 minutes.

Jose Mourinho was in typical modest mode at the end of the game "They gave us a good training session

"If we came here and won 10-0 I would not be happy because it would mean it was too easy. We needed the game they gave us.

"Obviously we needed to play better than we did in the second half defensively, and there were also too many missed chances, but the intention of pre-season matches is to play, to run, to bring intensity back, so no problem. We are a top team, we have top players. We only started training six days ago.

"The kids that played for Red Bulls were very good opponents for us: sharp, quick, fast, and highly motivated. I believe they were so happy to play against Chelsea.

"They gave us a good match, maybe better than they should, but a very good match! They are not going to forget they beat Chelsea, even if it was pre-season."

What to read next:

Swansea City : Darling edges closer to fitness ‘Exclusive quotes’
Swansea City fans will breath a sigh of relief with news that Harry Darling is recovering well from the knock he had against Middlesbrough last Saturday. Various sources confirm he is already making progress and is more than likely to appear this Saturday.
Watford 1 - 0 Swansea City - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Swans in another giveaway at Watford
It wasn’t the best of performances at Vicarage Road,the Swans seemed unsure and overall unprepared for their second game this week. Their lack of pace as ever evident but also the passing in key areas was some of the worst we have seen in a long while. If it can be compared to that awful January the team had then it wasn’t much better than that.
Wales squad announced and four Swans players are included
Craig Bellamy has announced his squad for the first two games of World Cup Qualification. Despite not having star players like Harry Wilson and Ethan Ampadu available it still looks a selection that could get off to a great start next week.
Swansea City full of confidence for this evenings game at Watford
This evening Alan Sheehan takes charge of his fourth game as Swansea City interim head coach against Watford at Vicarage Road (7:45pm) Sheehan is undefeated in the role and is fresh off another home win on the weekend against Middlesbrough.
Bellamy names his first World Cup qualification squad & 1958 ?
Undefeated Wales manager, Craig Bellamy will announce his squad for the opening set of World Cup Qualifiers tomorrow at 10am. He will follow that up with a press conference scheduled for 11am UK time.
Swansea City : The reasons why Alan Sheehan can’t answer questions about his future
Alan Sheehan wanted to concentrate on tomorrow nights away fixture at Watford but in unusual fashion he was pressed on the Swansea City head coach job yesterday. Sheehan was reluctant to pin his colours to the mast and still remains somewhat evasive as to his feelings on the role.
Swansea City going for the sting this Wednesday at Watford
Swansea City head to Watford this week for a midweek fixture at Vicarage Road on Wednesday night (7:45pm) The Swans have behind them three games undefeated and things are on the up. Despite that it isn’t that long ago Swans fans were looking down in fear of relegation.
Swansea City : It’s almost as if the sun has been shining for a reason
The Swans may have not put their visitors away as clinically as they threatened yesterday afternoon at the Swansea com, but it was another victory at home and a huge sigh of relief for many.
Eom strike seals the win for Swansea City : Report, teams, stats & the game
It was another one of those desperate finishes at the Swansea. Com this afternoon as the Swans made it seven points from nine under interim head coach, Alan Sheehan. In a game which Swansea City really should have wrapped up in the first half it came down to resilience and character for the Swans to take all three points.