Oscar and Eden Hazard scored first-half goals, leading Chelsea to a 2-0 victory over ten-man Inter Milan on Thursday in a quarterfinal of the Guinness International Champions Cup, a preseason friendly competition.
Despite not starting four of its stars that played in the Confederation Cup, including Brazil’s David Luiz and Spain’s Juan Mata, Chelsea nonetheless at times looked to be in midseason form before a crowd of 41,983 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Oscar put the London club ahead with a shot into a top corner of the net in the 13th minute, capping a move begun by a powerful run by Victor Moses.
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“Oscar has been with us for five days because of the Confederation Cup,” returning Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said. “We’ve worked a lot on our movement, and it will help us in difficult situations. It’s good to see in matches what I see in training. I want him to be a top player, not just a top talent.”
Chelsea doubled its lead in the 29th when Hazard converted a penalty.
Inter’s hopes of getting back into the contest were effectively ended when new signing Hugo Campagnaro was sent off in the 58th minute.
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Mourinho, coaching against Inter for the first time since he left the Italian club for Real Madrid, was disappointed at the expulsion.
“The first half was very good for both sides,” Mourinho said. “The red card changed (the game) completely. Not good for them because they played with 10, and not good for us, because we played against 10.”
Chelsea advances to play A.C. Milan in Sunday’s semifinal in New Jersey.
Inter will play Valencia, a 2-1 loser to AC Milan in its quarterfinal last weekend, in the tournament’s consolation semifinal.
The other clubs in the tournament are Everton, Juventus, Real Madrid and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Galaxy and Real Madrid played their quarterfinal on Thursday in Phoenix.
The final is on Wednesday in Miami.