Chelsea 3 AC Milan 0: Joao Pedro downs ex-Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim with two goals as Moises Caicedo hits wonderstrike

MOISES CAICEDO doesn’t score normal goals. The Ecuadorean midfielder channeled his inner Paul Scholes as Chelsea strolled past AC Milan to round out their pre-season tour, scoring one of the best goals of his career in the process. Moises Caicedo celebrates his wonderstrike in Indonesia Credit: Getty Caicedo is embraced by teammate Pedro Neto after scoring Credit: Reuters With the Blues’ pre-season tour in danger of coming to a fairly disappointing conclusion before this game, Alonso’s side gave fans something to be excited about with a 3-0 win. Previous losses to Spurs, and then Juventus saw a bit of pessimism creep into the fan base, that will now surely be replaced with overwhelming optimism – such is the nature of the South West London fanbase. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Pre-season matches under Alonso have typically started slowly on this tour. Not this one. Alonso, for the first time, set up in the three at the back system which we saw him use frequently at Bayer Leverkusen. Joao Pedro had a huge chance in the opening 12 minutes having been set up by Robert Sanchez of all people, with both teams missing chances early on. He wasn’t the only one wasteful though, with fellow ex-Brighton man Danny Welbeck missing a chance to grab his maiden Blues goal with a left-footed effort that was only good enough for the side-netting. CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Joao Pedro starred in Chelsea’s victory Credit: EPA Lorenzo Torriani in the AC Milan goal stood firm to deny Pedro Neto, playing almost as a right-wing back in what could be a new role for him this season, as he cut in onto his left foot and fired a shot towards the bottom left corner. Most read in Sport Chelsea began dominating possession, with Milan looking to hit them on the break as Rafael Leao continually used his pace to try and get the better of Wesley Fofana and Josh Acheampong at the back, with little success. Acheampong will have done his chances of staying at Stamford Bridge this season no harm at all. With the youngster in need of more consistent minutes to develop, if Alonso does opt to play this three at the back system, Acheampong could become much more of an asset – he locked Leao down as if he was a Championship player. The breakthrough finally came through Pedro, courtesy of an Austin MacPhee set-piece routine. Captain Moises Caicedo looped a corner into the box, with Pedro making space and losing his marker to head the ball into the ground, which bounced up into the top of the net to make it 1-0 just before half-time. It was a much better finish than the effort he blazed into row Z moments before, having been set up by the dangerous Marco Palestra. Half-time felt as long as it did with Justin Bieber performing midway through the World Cup final, with the Blues staying in the changing room for an extended period of time. Former Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim looks dejected as he watches his side lose Credit: Reuters But whatever Alonso said to those players worked, whereas Milan’s host of changes didn’t. Pedro had a brace almost immediately after the whistle had blown to signify the start of the second half, tapping a perfectly placed Neto cross into the corner before wheeling off performing his iconic hand gesture celebration. His former Brighton teammate, though, was not going to let the Brazilian steal the headlines. And it was another bit of genius from Austin MacPhee that led to Chelsea’s third. A corner this time was lofted to Caicedo who was placed on the edge of the box, and he struck the ball with the outside of his foot first time, putting just enough backspin on the volley to take it away from Torriani with one bounce, and find the corner of the net. Chelsea cruised from there on out, with Sanchez between the sticks not forced into a single save throughout. Alonso rang in the changes, with the likes of Geovany Quenda and Nicolas Jackson threatening on multiple occasions, only to be denied by the post and Torriani on several occasions. It was positive all round with the Blues set to end their pre-season tour tomorrow against Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim. Even Romeo Lavia managed to get through his first full Chelsea game without being substituted or injured, to inspire further hope for a successful campaign under Alonso. Comment now