Chelsea's pre-season campaign began with a victory down under as Xabi Alonso's men defeated defeated Western Sydney Wanderers 6-4 in what was an enthralling battle.
Dastan Satpaev gave Chelsea the lead early on before Western Sydney responded with two goals of their own. Chelsea would equalise through Dario Essugo just before half-time.
Chelsea would have to come from behind twice in the second half to eventually regain the lead in the 85th minute, helped by the introduction of many first-team players.
João Pedro scored three unanswered goals to secure a hat-trick and ensure that Chelsea's first outing this pre-season kicked off in victorious fashion.
Story of the Match
Chelsea gained the ascendancy in proceedings with less than six minutes on the clock as they worked their way through the thirds well. Ryan Kavuma-McQueen played an inch-perfect pass that left Dastan Satpaev through on goal.
The Kazakhstan international made no mistake in his finish, firing a confident strike in at the near post to give Chelsea the lead.
The Bluescame very close to doubling their advantage on the ten-minute mark as Liam Delap won the ball back in Sydney's box before laying it off to Kavuma-McQueen. The 17-year-old curled a brilliant effort towards the top-left corner but was denied by a strong save from Jordan Holmes.
Western Sydney Wanderers would find the equaliser fifteen minutes into proceedings from a corner. The young Chelsea side were completely disorganised for the set-piece, leaving Anthony Pantazopoulos with a free header at the back post which he simply could not miss.
Chelsea should have responded moments later from a corner themselves as Tosin Adarabioyo was left unmarked in the box. The centre-back got his timing all wrong, however, heading well over the bar.
Western Sydney would gain the lead in proceedings just past the half-hour mark. It was Aydan Hammond who gave the hosts the lead with a lovely bit of skill to glide past Josh Acheampong before coolly dispatching into the bottom left corner.
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This advantage would not remain intact for long, however, as Dário Essugo, who had been growing into the game prior to the goal, struck back. Set up by Reggie Walsh, the 21-year-old powered a low, driven shot into the bottom right corner to level the affair.
Chelsea had a golden opportunity to regain the lead as a corner once again was met by the head of Tosin. However, for the second time in the game, he got it all wrong, heading wide from what looked to be a sure goal.
Alonso's Mixed First Half
The teams would enter the break level, with changes to be expected ahead of the second half. It was a mixed half for Xabi Alonso's Chelsea, who had endured both good and bad moments in their first 45 minutes in pre-season.
Landon Emenalo had Chelsea's first big chance of the second half. Reggie Watson, who was enjoying an excellent game in midfield, found Emenalo free on the left side of the box. The 18-year-old just seemed to snatch at his effort, however, as the ball travelled just shy of the near post.
Western Sydney once again regained their lead just past the hour mark. It was a slice of luck for the hosts as Emenalo's clearance fell to Dylan Scicluna, who fired a venomous effort into the bottom left corner, leaving Teddy-Sharman Lowe with no chance.
A flurry of changes followed this goal for both sides as Chelsea brought on a large number of their first-team players to play the final half hour of the match.
As expected, this had a sizeable impact on proceedings as the Blues equalised less than three minutes later. João Pedro ran at his man, squeezing through and squaring the ball to Jamie Gittens, who found the back of the net.
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Despite all the changes, it was Western Sydney who retook the lead of proceedings; the ball fell to Estêvão, whose first touch was poor. This was capitalised on by Awan Lual, who slipped his effort through the legs ofRobert Sanchez.
This was an end-to-end game to say the least, as Chelsea once again equalised moments later. It was João Pedro this time who took a touch and calmly found the bottom corner to once again level this game out.
João Pedro Seals The Hat-Trick
For the first time since the 13th minute, the Blues would take the lead in the 85th minute. A defence-splitting through ball from Cole Palmer once again found Pedro, who fired home once more.
The Brazilian was not done there, however. Hungry for his hat-trick, Pedro found the back of the net following a scramble in the box from the corner, putting the result beyond doubt.
It had been an interesting match in Australia, a lot of which Alonso would have been very pleased with. Western Sydney gave an excellent account of themselves and would have gained a lot of positives from that themselves.
But ultimately it was Chelsea's day as they would now focus on Saturday's clash with familiar foes Tottenham Hotspur.