July 30 – Chelsea have won their first silverware under their new US ownership and new manager Mauricio Pochettino, winning the six-team Premier League Summer Series pre-season tournament on the East Coast of the USA.
The tournament was more of a money-making Premier League romp through a series of NFL venues, than a hard-core win-at-all-costs football tournament. The lack of enthusiasm at the trophy lift reinforced the absence of urgency.
The Summer Series did serve as warm-up for another season of US broadcaster NBC’s outstanding coverage of every game of the Premier League.
For Chelsea it was an opportunity to showcase their new look and they did so with some style and a lot of unfamiliar names. At times they even looked like a side that actually wanted to be out there challenging – something that could not be said of them every game last season.
Chelsea won the tournament with seven points via wins over Brighton and Fulham and a draw against Newcastle. Aston Villa and Newcastle were tied on five points (one win and two draws), with Villa having a one-goal better goal difference.
Chelsea won their final game to take the trophy against Fulham 2-0 at FedEx Field in Maryland, Washington. A 20th-minute Thiago Silva header from a Ben Chilwell corner opened the scoring. A tap-in from Christopher Nkunku sealed the win.
It was French striker Nkunku’s third goal of pre-season, having joined the club for £52 million from RB Leipzig.
For Newcastle United the form and three goals for Elliot Anderson were worth noting as the club looks to build a realistic challenge for the Premier League having finished fourth last season.
While the Premier League was wrapping up its Summer Series on the east coast of the US, on the west coast Premier League’s Manchester United was wrapping up their own US pre-season tour, losing to Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in Las Vegas.
Man Utd had opened the US tour with a 2-0 win over Arsenal but then went on to lose 2-0 to Real Madrid, while a predominantly youth side lost to Wrexham 3-1.
They were competing in a loosely formatted ‘Champions Soccer tour’ pre-season tournament in the US that has also seen Barcelona, Juventus, and AC Milan in action. The highlight of which was Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Real Madrid in a feisty El Clasico at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Having packed their bags and bank balances, the Premier League teams are scurrying back to England to ready for their season start on August 12. Barcelona and AC Milan are still in Las Vegas though for another big night out at the Allegiant tomorrow.
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