Chelsea downs Barcelona in an exhibition match

Abraham and Barkley fetch the goals, Arrizabalaga stands firm.

July 23, 2019 11:13 pm | Updated 11:22 pm IST - Saitama

In you go!  Ross Barkley scores Chelsea’s insurance goal.

In you go! Ross Barkley scores Chelsea’s insurance goal.

Goals from Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley saw Chelsea grab a 2-1 victory over Barcelona on Tuesday in an exhibition match.

Chelsea striker Abraham opened the scoring in the 34th minute, pouncing on a botched clearance by Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets.

Busquets fumbled under pressure from Jorginho and the ball rolled towards Abraham who only had to step past onrushing goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and gently send it into the net.

Four minutes later, Chelsea midfielder Christian Pulisic showed off his speed and footwork in infiltrating the Barca defence, but his left-footer went just wide.

Barcelona went on the offensive in the second half, with substitute striker Carles Perez leading the way. But superb saves by Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga repeatedly denied Barca.

In the 55th minute Perez zipped past three defenders but his left-footer was not good enough to get past Arrizabalaga.

A few minutes later, he dashed deep into the left side to feed a high-speed cross to striker Malcom, but Arrizabalaga again denied them.

Chelsea made it 2-0 with less than 10 minutes left as midfielder Barkley picked up a cross in front of the box and curled it into the net, with substitute 'keeper Neto getting a touch but unable to block it.

Just before injury time, Barcelona got a free-kick just outside the box but midfielder Ivan Rakitic's shot went over the bar.

Rakitic, however, quickly redeemed himself in injury time, picking up a cross and firing a lightning right-footer that went deep into the net for a consolation goal for Barcelona.

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