• Pre-season friendlies

Chelsea overcome Inter in United States

ESPN staff
August 2, 2013
Chelsea kicked off their American tour with a win © AP
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Oscar and Eden Hazard both scored first-half goals for Chelsea to lead them to a 2-0 victory over Inter Milan on Thursday night.

Chelsea, despite not starting four players who played in the Confederations Cup, including Brazil's David Luiz and Spain's Juan Mata, nonetheless at times looked to be in mid-season form in the exhibition match before a crowd of 41,983 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The match featured intrigue on the sidelines with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho coaching against his former team for the first time since his two-year stint with Inter Milan from 2008-10.

"Oscar has been with us for five days because of the Confederations Cup," Mourinho said. "We've worked a lot on our movement, and it will help us in difficult situations. It's good to see in matches what I see in training. I want him to be a top player, not just a top talent."

Hugo Campagnaro was sent off for Inter in the 58th minute for a late challenge on John Terry.

"The first half was very good for both sides," Mourinho said. "The red card changed [the game] completely. Not good for them because they played with 10, and not good for us, because we played against 10."

Chelsea dominated nearly from start to finish. Two minutes after Inter's Fredy Guarin almost volleyed in a shot past solid Chelsea keeper Petr Cech, Chelsea went up 1-0 on a goal by Brazilian star Oscar in the 13th minute after he capitalised on team-mate Victor Moses' powerful run through the midfield.

The pro-Chelsea crowd roared as Oscar's shot settled into the top right-hand corner of the net after Moses slipped him the ball.

Chelsea then went 2-0 up in the 29th minute through a penalty from Hazard.

Although an exhibition, the inaugural eight-team, 12-game International Champions Cup is being staged to promote some of Europe's best while offering the teams a chance to prepare for their league seasons that begin at the end of the month.

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