Xabi Alonso secured his first victory as Chelsea manager on Saturday in a behind-closed-doors friendly against League Two club Crawley Town. The Premier League side won the match 3-1, with goals from Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, and Emmanuel Emegha.
According to reports, players available for the match each played 45 minutes. Pre-season preparations under Alonso began at the club's Cobham training ground on July 9. The squad included several young players from the academy who have been involved in first-team training.
While several Chelsea stars are still unavailable following the World Cup and subsequent breaks, players such as Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro have been present at Cobham. Emmanuel Emegha, who joined from BlueCo sister club Strasbourg this summer, unofficially scored his first goal for Chelsea in the friendly. Jamie Gittens, who missed the latter half of last season due to a hamstring injury, and Liam Delap, who has been aiming to prove himself after a difficult period since signing from Ipswich Town, also found the net.
Chelsea has another behind-closed-doors friendly scheduled for Thursday against League One club Bromley. Following these matches, the team is set to travel to Australia for a pre-season tour that will include matches in Sydney against the Western Sydney Wanderers on July 28 and Tottenham Hotspur on August 1. The tour will continue to Hong Kong for a match against Juventus on August 5, Jakarta for a game against AC Milan on August 8, and Malaysia to face Johor Darul Ta’zim on August 9.
The final traveling squad for the tour has not yet been finalized, with some younger academy players reportedly considering loan options. Neither Chelsea nor Crawley Town provided comment on the friendly when approached.