Ugochukwu snatches deserved Chelsea draw against Inter Milan
- Published
Winger Pedro Neto was unveiled at half-time during Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Inter Milan in their final pre-season match at Stamford Bridge.
The 拢54.1m signing from Wolves waved to supporters at the break during the club's final pre-season match, where they looked on course to lose four of their six matches, winning just once against Mexican side Club America.
Marcus Thuram had opened the scoring with a powerful edge of the box finish in the 26th minute after latching onto Joaquin Correa's throughball.
But after a host of chances went begging, an unlikely equaliser came from midfield substitute Lesley Ugochukwu, who volleyed in a 90th minute finish after a cleared ball landed at his feet.
Inter thought they had ridden their luck and secured a clean sheet after a brilliant performance by goalkeeper Yan Sommer.
The Swiss shotstopper saved Marc Guiu's ninth-minute effort before the goal and then saved another 37th-minute volley from the 18-year-old who signed for 拢5m from Barcelona this summer.
Robert Sanchez also saved a Federico di Marco header just six minutes after Thuram's goal and another volley from the full-back just after half-time.
The Blues pushed for an equaliser in the second half by bringing on substitutes Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson and Renato Veiga.
Nkunku had an overhead kick saved in the 54th minute with defender Levi Colwill hitting the post minutes later with a close range shot.
A wonderful move involving Caicedo, Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk created a chance for Nkunku but he shot wide in the 64th-minute.
Palmer then missed a chance 10 minutes from time after a Raheem Sterling cutback shortly after he came on. The Serie A champions dug in defensively but were eventually broken down after Ugochuwku turned in a scrambled finish from a free-kick.
The Blues will go into their match against Premier League champions Manchester City next Sunday after a poor run of pre-season results but they will have felt they created enough to win against the Italian side with some reason to be optimistic.