Chelsea 1-1 Inter: Ugochukwu levels late on Maresca´s SW6 debut

Lesley Ugochukwu struck late on for Chelsea as they claimed a 1-1 draw against Inter in their final pre-season fixture.

Marcus Thuram’s first-half strike against the run of play gave the Serie A champions the lead, only for Ugochukwu to level in the 90th minute for the Blues.

Despite Chelsea dominating proceedings in the opening exchanges with Marc Guiu going close, Robert Sanchez was picking the ball out of his net in the 26th minute.

Joaquin Correa was given time to run at the Chelsea defence, picking out Thuram, who took the ball in his stride before firing a left-footed effort into the roof of the net.

Despite the hosts registering nine shots in the opening 45 minutes, they were unable to test Yann Sommer in the Inter goal as the Serie A champions led at the break.

Maresca rung the changes at the interval, with last season’s top scorer Cole Palmer making his return to first-team action after his Euro 2024 campaign with England.

Levi Colwill struck the post early in the second period, before Christopher Nkunku’s attempted bicycle kick produced a smart save from Sommer low to his right.

But the Blues’ pressure would pay off in the closing stages, as Palmer’s free-kick was headed kindly into the path of substitute Ugochukwu, who fired the ball home.

A late Ugochukwu equaliser earns us a draw. pic.twitter.com/7BzmdpbCLm

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 11, 2024

Data Debrief: Blues leave it late

Chelsea conclude their preparations for the new Premier League season having won just one of their six pre-season fixtures (two draws, three defeats), but there were plenty of positives to take from their showing in SW6.

The return of Palmer is a timely boost ahead of their fixture against Manchester City next week, but Maresca will want to see an improvement in front of goal.

Chelsea registered an expected goals (xG) total of 2.27 but could only net once, an underperformance of 1.27, with only seven of their 21 shots on target.