adminNEW YORK. – Sean Davis scored twice in the second half as the New York Red Bulls upset Chelsea 4-2 in the reigning English Premier League champions’ first game of their pre-season US exhibition tour.
The Red Bulls scored four times in the second half against mighty Chelsea on Wednesday despite using a roster made up of mostly of young developmental players.
They were also coming off a quarter-final loss less than 24 hours earlier to the Philadelphia Union in the US Open Cup competition.
And Jose Mourinho says he was surprised by how “fragile” Chelsea were during the Blues’ pre-season defeat to New York Red Bulls.
“I was surprised by our fragilities,” said Mourinho.
“I said before we have no fragilities but today we had fragilities, lots of fragilities. I was surprised that we were not good enough in the second-half to cope with that.
“We hit the post two or three times. I don’t know but they’re young guys, they have quality, and motivation, and their motivation is really high to play against us.”
Despite the defeat, Mourinho refused to be disheartened.
“They gave us a good training session,” he said. “If we came here and won 10-0 I would not be happy because it would mean it was too easy. We needed the game they gave us.
“Obviously we needed to play better than we did in the second half defensively, and there were also too many missed chances but the intention of pre-season matches is to play, to run, to bring intensity back, so no problem.
“We are a top team, we have top players. We only started training six days ago.
“The kids that played for Red Bulls were very good opponents for us: sharp, quick, fast, and highly motivated. I believe they were so happy to play against Chelsea.
“They gave us a good match. They are not going to forget they beat Chelsea, even if it was pre-season.”
The Stamford Bridge chief defended new goalkeeper Begovic, who made a string of errors – despite only playing the second-half of the clash.
“He was very tired,” Mourinho added. “When the goalkeepers are very tired the coordination is low, the agility doesn’t exist, and the speed of reaction doesn’t exist.
“Courtois made a mistake in the first half with the ball at his feet. Begovic in the second half was not sharp in his reactions but it’s a consequence of being tired from training.
“I’m so happy to have him and in the next game against PSG he will start. He will play the first half. There’s no problem, it’s just a process.”
New York head coach Jesse Marsch went with a youthful lineup and it paid off as midfielder Davis scored in the 73rd and 77th minutes and 16-year-old Tyler Adams scored in the 70th minute. – AFP.
Online Reporter