Chelsea boss Mourinho happy to start his second reign with a victory
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was happy to begin his second reign at Stamford Bridge with a win despite a rusty performance by his charges in a less than impressive 1-0 victory over Singha All Star XI at Rajamangala National stadium yesterday.
The visiting Chelsea side were made to toil by the home team made up of players from Thai Premier League clubs that Singha Corporation, the organisers of the exhibition match, have supported.
Mourinho’s men, though, were able to escape the same fate suffered by English Premier League champions Manchester United when they succumbed to an upset 1-0 loss in David Moyes’ first game in charge of the Old Trafford outfit against the same opponents on Saturday.
Belgium international striker Romelu Lukaku made no mistake from the spot when the game played out in front of flag-waving fans just passed half an hour mark.
The Portuguese manager, who returned to the west London club after spells with Inter Milan and Real Madrid, put the laboured win into prospective, with his charges still working on their fitness ahead of the start of the new season in mid-August.
“I am pleased and it was difficult to do well because of the amount of training and because the opposition played in a very defensive way which I am not criticising
“They played for a result and knew we had more talent. Our keeper didn't make one save and we were always in control, and we thought when they were winning they would open a little more but they played for this kind of result.
“So it was a good experience because they were very organised with five at the back and only one in attack. Defensively we were very strong, we moved the ball quite well but didn't create many chances. We are not sharp, we have a lot to improve, but it was okay,” the Portuguese told the post-match conference.
Chelsea will today leave for next destination of their pre-season tour in Malaysia.
