Joao Pedro hat-trick seals chaotic 6-4 Chelsea win in Xabi Alonso's debut
Chelsea began the Xabi Alonso era with an entertaining victory after beating Western Sydney Wanderers 6-4 in a remarkable pre-season friendly in Sydney on Tuesday, July 2.
Joao Pedro was the star of the show, coming off the bench to score a nine-minute hat-trick as the Blues recovered after falling behind three separate times.
Joao Pedro inspires Chelsea comeback
Chelsea made the perfect start when 17-year-old Dastan Satpayev opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
However, the A-League side responded through Anthony Pantazopoulos and Aydan Hammond to take the lead before Dario Essugo equalised before half-time.
Western Sydney Wanderers went back in front after the break through Dylan Scicluna, but Alonso's changes shifted the momentum as he introduced first-team players into the game.
Jamie Gittens made it 3-3 just two minutes after coming on before Awan Lual put Western Sydney ahead for a third time.
Joao Pedro then took control of the contest.
The Brazilian equalised almost immediately before finishing a Cole Palmer assist to give Chelsea the lead.
He completed his hat-trick from close range late on to seal a dramatic 6-4 victory in Alonso's first match in charge.
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Alonso pleased with valuable test
Despite the victory, Alonso admitted there were plenty of lessons for his new side to take from the chaotic encounter.
"It has been a very useful friendly that we can learn a lot from today. There were moments when we were struggling to find solutions, and we needed this.
"The positive is that we corrected them, but there were moments when the game management is something that we can learn from today.
"When they were pressing so high, it was tough to find the solution from inside, to have a different understanding of what's happening, and to make those changes in the game.
"It's something that will happen often in all the games, and the more situations we struggle with and find solutions, the better team we will be.
"For that, I think that this friendly is going to be useful for the future, and as well for minutes for everyone."
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Chelsea's remaining pre-season fixtures
Chelsea will continue their pre-season tour with five more fixtures before the start of the new campaign.
August 1: Tottenham (Sydney, 10.45am BST)
August 5: Juventus (Hong Kong, 12.30pm BST)
August 8: AC Milan (Jakarta, 1pm BST)
August 9: Johor Darul Ta'zim (Johor, 1pm BST)
August 15: Real Sociedad (Stamford Bridge, 2pm BST)
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