Hazard and Marin impress in Chelsea win over Seattle
Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo saw his make-shift side start their pre-season tour of the United States with a win against MLS side Seattle Sounders, including goals from debutants Eden Hazard and Marko Marin, reports Yahoo Sports.
Chelsea lined up in their game of the World Football Challenge with notable absences - the likes of John Terry, Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles all being given extra time off because of their Euro 2012 commitments. It was Chelsea’s new boys that impressed the most in Seattle.
German international Marko Marin was the first of the summer signings to impress the travelling Chelsea fans when the 23-year-old exposed the shaky Sounders defence and forced a fine save from goalkeeper Bryan Meredith - two minutes later Meredith was unable to stop striker Roman Lukaku from netting the first goal.
With Chelsea dominating the early possession, the second goal came just eight minutes later when Belgium international Eden Hazard exposed the right side and calmly slotted past the keeper to give Di Matteo a taste of things to come.
The Sounders, buoyed by the home support scored their first goal of the evening three minutes later after designated player Fredy Montero was gifted an easy shot from young midfielder Josh McEachran’s stray pass. Montero pulled the Sounders level on 33 minutes with another well-placed shot.
The goals kept coming and seven minutes later Marin opened his account for the Blues when he turned the Seattle defence and hit a placed effort which took a lucky deflection of a defender. Chelsea restored their two goal advantage shortly before half-time when Lukaku scored again, a cool finish after rounding the keeper.
Di Matteo will be pleased with his side’s showing, given the notable exclusions from the travelling party. Next they play big-spenders Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday in New York.
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