Match Report: Madrid 3-1 Chelsea
Real Madrid 3-1 Chelsea: Mourinho's Madrid reunion falls flat as Ronaldo clinches cup for los Blancos
The Chelsea boss could not send one final parting shot in his
former club's direction, as a double from Ronaldo and a Marcelo opener
sent the Spanish side on their way to victory
Real Madrid have won the International Champions Cup thanks to a 3-1 victory over Chelsea in the final at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami on Wednesday night.
Marcelo
opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour following a strong start
from the Spansh side, only for Ramires to restore parity within moments
with a cool finish.
But Ronaldo soon took matters into his own
hand, blasting an exquisite free-kick home after half an hour, before
heading home the clincher early in the second half.
And there
was simply no way back for Chelsea after that, as Madrid took the sting
out of the game in the time that remained to comdemn Jose Mourinho to
defeat against his former team.
Madrid were quick off the blocks,
with their first sight on goal coming after only three minutes, when
Luka Modric released Karim Benzema down the left for a shot that tester
Petr Cech at his near post.
And after a series of warnings from Madrid, Marcelo
would strike the killer blow in the 14th minute, running goalside of
Ramires into the box and slotting a low finish into the right side.
But against the run of play, Chelsea were level barely two minutes after the restart, with Ramires redeeming himself by bursting through the Madrid centre backs and lobbing Iker Casillas with a composed finish.
Madrid
were not daunted by the setback, however, and continued to pile forward
in the Chelsea half, with the English side struggling to gather any
attacking momentum of their own.
And just past the half hour mark, los Blancos would make their superiority count once again. Ronaldo,
after he was fouled 25 yards from goal, took responsibility for the
free-kick, and smashed a wonderful effort in off the underside of the
bar.
Chelsea though, began to shake off their shackles as the
half drew to a close. Frank Lampard turned superbly into a 20-yard
drive, which was parried with equal skill by Casillas, who was quick to
the rebound ahead of Romelu Lukaku.
And the Blues carried that
momentum into the second half, with Eden Hazard nearly drawing them
level after a stunning run past two players and a stinging shot that
forced the very best out of Casillas.
Kevin De Bruyne was next to
try his luck, getting his head to a corner at the near post, but
Casillas was once again well positioned to tip the ball over the bar.
However,
Chelsea could not make the most of their positivity, and with 56
minutes on the clock, were made to pay at the other end when a defensive
mix-up allowed Ronaldo to steal in unmarked to head home an Isco cross from six yards out.
The
goal took a lot of the sting out of proceedings, and Madrid, in the
driving seat began to slow play down in a bid to stifle hopes of a
Chelsea comeback.
Mourinho's men failed to seriously test
Casillas in the time that remained, and in fact, it was Carlo
Ancelotti's men who could have added further gloss to the scoreline,
with Angel Di Maria coming close with a pair of volleys, before having a
late goal disallowed.
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