Mudryk back for Chelsea in friendly defeat to Juventus / Photo: May JAMES - AFP
Mudryk back for Chelsea in friendly defeat to Juventus
Mykhailo Mudryk played for Chelsea for the first time in nearly two years on Wednesday but was unable to stop his side falling to a 1-0 friendly defeat to Juventus in Hong Kong.
The Ukrainian winger came on as a substitute for Nicolas Jackson in the 82nd minute, drawing applause from his teammate and loud cheers from thousands of Chelsea fans at Kai Tak Stadium.
Mudryk had not played since November 2024 because of a doping ban, but won permission to resume his football career on Friday after winning an appeal.
Despite a lively cameo on the left side, it was Juventus who took the spoils thanks to a wonderful second-half strike from Kosovo international Edon Zhegrova.
Neither side could find the breakthrough in a drab first half as two experimental line-ups, with Chelsea choosing to leave out Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill, struggled to create clear-cut chances.
Danny Welbeck could have scored a goal on his Chelsea debut but the veteran England striker failed to direct a flicked header on target after 11 minutes.
Juventus came closest a few minutes before half-time when midfielder Jeremie Boga took aim from just outside the penalty area and forced Blues keeper Robert Sanchez into a diving save.
Early in the second period a long ball from Chelsea skipper Moises Caicedo put full-back Marco Palestra in on goal but his tame shot could not beat Mattia Perin.
Juventus finally broke the deadlock with a moment of magic in the 68th minute, Kenan Yildiz squaring for Zhegrova who curled into the top corner from outside the area.
Both sides rang the changes but no number of substitutions gave Chelsea the cutting edge they craved as the game petered out.
A.Papadopoulos--AN-GR
