Chelsea vs Borussia Monchengladbach: Ross Barkley penalty caps fine Blues comeback to round off pre-season
Frank Lampard’s side have finished their preparations for the new season with Manchester United first up next weekend
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Ross Barkley's penalty capped a fine second-half comeback by Chelsea to earn a deserved 2-2 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach to end their pre-season unbeaten under Frank Lampard.
The Blues were stunned early by the Germans, whose high press forced errors, with Alassane Plea burying from range to break the deadlock after Tammy Abraham's miss from close-range.
It was two before the break when Jonas Hofmann was left all alone in behind and he stabbed underneath Kepa to convert.
But Lampard's side remained calm and plotted their way back into the game in the second half, with Mateo Kovacic tumbling to the turf and earning a generous penalty.
After several misses Abraham, with Barkley not on the pitch at this stage, grabbed the ball and duly halved the deficit.
Barkley then came on and after a terrible miss of his own, received the chance to level the contest once Mason Mount was hacked down following a delicious Cruyff turn.
Barkley coolly converted to bring their preparation for the Premier League opener at Old Trafford to a close.
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N’Golo Kante should be involved, with Lampard providing an update this week.
“The signs are good. It was certainly the right decision for him to come home early from Japan and get the treatment he had,” Lampard said.
“He’s dipped into training with us over the last couple of days and I expect him to be training through this week to the point that he can be fully involved at the start of next week. There’s a lot more he needs to do physically without us but we’re hopeful.”
Meanwhile Carlo Cudicini has become the loan player technical coach after Eddie Newton's promotion to the first team as part of Lampard's backroom staff.
"I'm really looking forward to this new challenge in my coaching career," said Cudicini. "The loan programme is an important part of our development pathway for young players at the club and this is an exciting opportunity to work with the next generation of talented players."
Chelsea's final pre-season XI includes Tammy Abraham leading the line and Mason Mount in place of Ross Barkley.
Kurt Zouma starts again, while Emerson Palmieri gets the nod over Marcos Alonso.
Some interesting selections from Lampard, does this suggest this is not his preferred XI for Old Trafford?
A chance for Mount? Or is Barkley merely resting?
Abraham retains his starting role, will he be able to prove he deserves the role full time over Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi?
Christensen starts against his former team, where he spent two years on loan.
"It was very good," the Dane tells the official Chelsea website. "I enjoyed being there and playing football there. Everything was so local. You had Dusseldorf which was a big city 20 minutes away. I lived in Monchengladbach in an area where some of the players lived.
"Because Monchengladbach is not the biggest city, so much is about football. When you go to the shop, you’d see the players’ faces on different things, you’d see flags out the cars, flags on every little shop.
"At the same time, when you went out with the players, people were so nice and you could still be private. I enjoyed the whole experience of being there."
Thuram goes close early on for Gladbach.
With time and space on the edge of the area, he almost finds the bottom left corner.
Kepa dives but looked beaten. Thuram then finds Neuhaus in the box, he spins and finds space vs Christensen, but his shot is wide at the near post.
Mount goes close with a header.
Arriving late, he knocks down into the turf, but it rises too high.
Abraham has his first look on goal.
A great chance after confusion at the back for Gladbach, but Sommer is out quick.
He blocks the shot and forces a corner, Abraham should score though.
GOAL! Gladbach 1-0 Chelsea
Chelsea punished for sloppiness in midfield, Mount lacking concentration, and Plea picks up the loose ball and buries it past Kepa.
A harsh lesson for the Blues and a reality check.
Mount wastes a glorious chance after Chelsea break after neat play out from the back.
Pulisic releases him but he can't maintain his speed and loses the momentum.
He nearly salvages it by finding Pedro at the back post, but his shot whistles wide of the post.
Azpilicueta receiving plenty of joy down the right, but his end product has been disappointing.
Mount whips in a free-kick from a dangerous area.
It flashes all the way through.
Approaching half-time and the Blues have looked better since the shaky start, but lacking composure in the final third.
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