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Vitesse
Pre-season Friendlies
Jul 30, 2014 at 6.30pm UK
 
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FT(HT: 0-2)
Salah (4'), Fabregas (24'), Matic (76')

Live Commentary: Vitesse 1-3 Chelsea - as it happened

Sports Mole brings you live coverage of the friendly match between Vitesse and Chelsea.
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Chelsea have maintained their unbeaten pre-season record with a 3-1 victory over Vitesse.

The Blues opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute when Diego Costa set up Mohamed Salah for a tap in before Cesc Fabregas doubled the advantage with a 25-yard free kick.

Costa provided his second assist of the evening for Nemanja Matic to fire into an empty net, but Vitesse added a consolation late on when Uros Djurdjevic headed home from close range.

Read below to see how the action unfolded in the GelreDome.


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Hello, and welcome to Sports Mole's coverage of the friendly match between Vitesse and Chelsea.

After bringing in several world-class players and starting pre-season with a four-game undefeated streak, it's been a pretty decent start to the summer for Chelsea, but the standard of their friendly opposition continues to improve this evening as they face Dutch side Vitesse.

A partnership is in place between the two teams which sees Chelsea send several of their younger crop to the Eredivisie to gain first-team experience with Vitesse. The likes of Christian Atsu and Lucas Piazon spent time in the Netherlands last season, while Wallace and Bertrand Traore are currently at the club ahead of the upcoming campaign.

With just over 20 minutes remaining until kickoff, I guess that I should start bringing you the team news from the GelreDome.

CHELSEA XI: Cech; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luis; Van Ginkel, Fabregas, Matic; Salah, Costa, Torres.

VITESSE XI: Room, Wallace, Kashia, Van der Heijden, Kruiswijk, Vejinovic, Leerdam, Propper, Labyad, Vako, Traore

Jose Mourinho has named a strong side for the trip to the Netherlands, but there is no place for the returning Didier Drogba. John Terry also misses out, but Fernando Torres will partner Diego Costa in attack, while Marco van Ginkel returns to his former side.

As for Vitesse, Wallace and Bertrand Traore, the duo who I have mentioned are on loan from Chelsea, take their place in the starting lineup against their parent club. That should be interesting! For those of who that aren't aware, Wallace is a Brazilian full-back and Traore is an attacking midfielder who has already represented Burkina Faso on 11 occasions despite still being a teenager.

CHELSEA SUBSTITUTES: Beeney, Zouma, Terry, Chalobah, Ake, Romeu, Baker, Boga, Solanke.

VITESSE SUBSTITUTES: Velthuizen, Djurdjevic, Oliinyk, Dauda, Marvelous, Pedersen, Bosz, Ibarra, Diks, Klein-Holte

While Didier Drogba is missing from the first-team squad, you may have noticed that the same can be said of Romelu Lukaku. The reason? He's 40 minutes away from officially being confirmed as Everton's new record signing. Be sure to catch up with the story from 7pm.

The two teams are ready to make their way out onto the GelreDome. We will be getting started in just a few minutes.

In the absence of John Terry, Petr Cech will be Chelsea's captain - for the first half at least.

Chelsea get the game underway.

After a patient start to the match, Chelsea won a corner on the left-hand side but Vitesse were able to survive.

GOAL! Vitesse 0-1 Chelsea (Salah)

Chelsea take the lead in the Gelredome! Nemanja Matic sent Diego Costa clear on goal, and after the Spanish international bided his time, he played the ball into the path of Mohamed Salah, who had the simple task of taping home from eight yards.

Moments after the goal, Salah had the opportunity to make it two but his flick past the goalkeeper was cleared in the six-yard box.

Vitesse finally earn a bit of success in the Chelsea half, but after a corner caused confusion in the penalty area, the visitors were able to clear

CHANCE! After Petr Cech is forced into action to tip over a long-range strike, Vitesse come close to finding the equaliser through Davy Propper, but the midfielder's header was directed onto the top of the net.

For a friendly, this has been very lively! Vitesse are beginning to cause Chelsea problems in the final third, but they are getting themselves into trouble in front of their own 18-yard box.

SHOT! I think that the Vitesse players have been told to shoot on sight. Bertrand Traore fires a long-range effort towards goal but his low drive is a couple of yards wide of the near post.

It's easy to see why Chelsea have linked up with a side like Vitesse. They play their football on the deck and whichever Chelsea youngsters join the Dutch club on loan are likely to benefit from enjoying plenty of time on the ball.

We haven't seen too much of Fernando Torres just yet. He's been busy switching flanks with Mohamed Salah, but apart from that, he's been anonymous. Diego Costa hasn't done much since his assist for the goal either.

GOAL! Vitesse 0-2 Chelsea (Fabregas)

Chelsea won a free kick around 25 yards out after a poor challenge on Diego Costa. Filipe Luis and Cesc Fabregas stood over the ball, but it was the former Barcelona man who stepped up to take the set piece, curling the ball into the corner despite the best efforts of the goalkeeper.

That goal has put a bit of breathing space between the two teams. Chelsea probably don't deserve a 2-0 lead, but that's what they have got. They are playing the ball around with a lot more confidence now.

Over the past 10 minutes, Petr Cech has endured a couple of nervy touches on the ball. His new rival, Thibaut Courtois, is watching on from the stands.

That's as comical as it gets from a goalkeeper. The ball was played back to Eloy Room but his first-time return-pass went behind for a corner. It wasn't too far off going into his own net!

CHANCE! After Vitesse went close through Kelvin Leerdam, Chelsea regained possession through Nemanja Matic, but despite finding Mohamed Salah with his pass, the winger over-hit his first touch and the chance went begging.

Gary Cahill concedes a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Can Vitesse pull a goal back before half time? Very nearly! It's a decent strike from Marko Vejinovic but Petr Cech tips the ball over for a corner.

HALF TIME: Vitesse 0-2 Chelsea

The half-time whistle goes at the GelreDome and Chelsea hold a comfortable advantage over Vitesse at the break. The Dutch side have matched the Premier League side but goals from Mohamed Salah and Cesc Fabregas have given the Chelsea the lead.

Despite netting two goals, Chelsea didn't have a star performer in that first half. It was more a case of Chelsea capitalising on mistakes in the Vitesse defence. The foul that resulted in Fabregas's goal isn't the kind of thing that you want to see in a friendly match.

Incase you were wondering, we are still waiting for the Everton press conference that is expected to confirm Romelu Lukaku's departure from Chelsea to Everton. Keep an eye out for that on Sports Mole's homepage.

Vitesse get us back underway in the second half.

Jose Mourinho has introduced John Terry at the break, with Filipe Luis making way for the Blues' skipper.

Space nearly opens up for Diego Costa inside the penalty area but a last-ditch challenge from a Vitesse defender denies the Spanish international the opportunity to add to Chelsea's lead.

It's been a relatively quiet start to the second half. Apart from a shout for handball inside the area from Vitesse and the Costa opening, much of the play has taken place in the centre of the park.

That's better from Chelsea, who work the ball to the left to Diego Costa. The striker weighs up his options before crossing into the penalty area but it's too far ahead of Fernando Torres.

SHOT! Marco van Ginkel has endured a quiet game on his return to his former club, but he fails to get on the score sheet on this occasion after driving his 30-yard effort high over the crossbar.

The gaps are beginning to appear in the Vitesse defence, but after the ball is played across goal for Fernando Torres, but with the goalkeeper out of contention, his effort was well blocked by the defender. To be fair to the Spaniard, he can't be criticised for failing to find the net on that occasion.

WOODWORK! What a strike from Zakaria Labyad! The midfielder, who is on loan from Sporting Lisbon, let fly from 25 yards but despite beating Petr Cech, his shot struck the far post and went wide.

Vitesse send a set piece from the left into the penalty area but a header from Gary Cahill cleared the ball from danger. Marco van Ginkel has been substituted by Jose Mourinho, receiving a standing ovation from his former supporters in the process. Oriol Romeu has been introduced in his place.

I'm surprised that Chelsea haven't made more alterations at this stage, but the fact that they haven't perhaps tells us that the players out there are well on course to be fully fit for the new campaign. That said, I'm sure a few of the younger players will make an appearance during the final 20 minutes.

I mentioned earlier that Van Ginkel had been withdrawn, and it appears that it may have been due to a knock to his knee. He's receiving treatment on the bench, but hopefully, it's not too serious. Nathan Ake has replaced Mohamed Salah.

GOAL! Vitesse 0-3 Chelsea (Matic)

That was terrific from Chelsea. The ball was played to Diego Costa, who received the ball in a two-on-one situation. The Spanish international muscled his way past the defender before flicking the ball across goal for Nemanja Matic to smash the ball into the roof of an empty net. That's a second assist on the night for Costa, and two pieces of unselfish work in front of goal.

That goal will wrap up the win for Chelsea. It's their most convincing of an already successful pre-season campaign. The two players involved in that goal, Costa and Matic, as well as Gary Cahill, have been withdrawn by Jose Mourinho, with Jeremie Boga, Kurt Zouma and Dominic Solanke taking their places.

Those alterations are followed by Mitchell Beeney and Nathaniel Chalobah replacing Petr Cech and Branislav Ivanovic.

Beeney is soon in the action to prevent Vitesse finding a consolation goal, but the strike on goal was never going to test the Chelsea Under-21 representative.

GOAL! Vitesse 1-3 Chelsea (Durdevic)

Jose Mourinho won't be happy with conceding a goal in the last minute. A cross was headed over the Chelsea defence and Uros Durdevic capitalised to head the ball into the corner from six yards.

FULL TIME: Vitesse 1-3 Chelsea

That's all she wrote in the Netherlands and Chelsea have recorded a comfortable 3-1 victory over Vitesse. Two goals in the first half meant that the result was never in doubt, but the gloss to the win was added with another assist from Diego Costa in the second half.

That will be all from Sports Mole's coverage of this match. Thank you for joining us and we hope that you return for all of the action over the next few days, whether that be football or the Commonwealth Games. Goodbye for now.

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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho looks on prior to kick-off in the Champions League semi-final first leg match against Atletico Madrid on April 22, 2014
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