Chelsea’s pre-season tour ends in chaos as penalties are called off after a 3-3 draw
Chelsea’s pre-season tour of Asia ended with an exciting 3-3 draw against Johor Darul Ta’zim, but things got a bit unusual when the penalties, which were meant to decide the winner, were mysteriously called off.
Xabi Alonso’s team will now focus on their next game at Stamford Bridge next Saturday, where they’ll face Real Sociedad – the club where Alonso started his career. This will be their last friendly before kicking off the Premier League season against their West London neighbors, Fulham.
In this match against the Malaysian side, Alonso made a lot of changes. Some Chelsea fans weren’t happy with Liam Delap’s performance, even though he scored two penalties, and many are calling for Tosin Adarabioyo to be sold after a rough display.
Chelsea let in the first goal when Johor Darul Ta’zim caught them on the counter-attack, with Arif Aiman finishing off a great pass from Marcos Guilherme. But Chelsea equalized just before halftime with Delap scoring a penalty. Delap scored again from the spot in the 61st minute, putting Chelsea ahead, but Johor quickly made it 2-2. Johor then scored again in the 86th minute, only for Chelsea to level at 3-3 a minute later after an own goal by Cristian Glauder.
The game was supposed to be decided by penalties, but these never happened. The CFC+ commentary suggested the shootout was cancelled due to tempers flaring on the pitch. A Chelsea official was heard saying “it’s written in the contract” during the broadcast. Many fans took to social media confused because Chelsea looked ready to take the penalties. SPORTbible has reached out to Chelsea for an explanation.
The match was quite heated, with some tough tackles and fights breaking out. Tosin was spotted standing up for his teammates, confronting opponents and letting the referee know when he thought challenges were unfair.
All in all, it was a chaotic end to Chelsea’s Asian tour. Now, the team is heading back to England to finish getting ready for the new season.