Saturday, 16 July 2016

Antonio Conte makes losing start as Blues are beaten (2-0) in Austria

     


  • Antonio Conte takes charge of his first Chelsea match in Vienna
  • The former Italy manager was named Blues boss at the beginning of April
  • Goals from Joelinton and Tomi settled the tie for the Austrian side 
  • Chelsea XI: Begovic, Ivanovic, Djilobodji, Terry (c), Baba Rahman, Mikel, Matic, Loftus-Cheek, Moses, Willian, Diego Costa

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    Two weeks after tasting defeat in the quarter-final of Euro 2016, Antonio Conte got off to a losing start in his first game as
    Chelsea boss on Saturday.
    The Italian named a strong side in Austria with Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Nemanja Matic, Willian and Diego Costa all starting but they were left looking rusty against a team well into their pre-season preparations. 
    Goals from Joelinton and Tomi either side of half-time proved to be the difference as the home fans celebrated the opening of the Allianz Stadion in style. 
    Recap on the action with Sportsmail's JAMES DUTTON below.


    What have we learned?
    Well, not a lot unfortunately. Chelsea looked incredibly rusty throughout, with a host of second-half changes breaking up any momentum they could build.
    It is to be expected though, given Rapid had already played six pre-season games and this was Chelsea's first.
    It's easy to see how N'Golo Kante slots into this side, but the need for defensive reinforcements must also be a pressing concern.
    Chelsea manager Antonio Conte gives instructions during the friendly match