Chelsea down Sydney

 

English Premier League champion Chelsea beat Sydney FC 1-0 at a sold-out Olympic Stadium in Sydney and capped off a successful Asian tour on Tuesday.

Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho's pre-match promise to play his strongest team against A-League runner-up Sydney was fulfilled, as Premier League player of the year Eden Hazard, captain John Terry, goalkeeper Petr Cech, and striker Diego Costa all started.
Hazard, especially, impressed, and seemingly had the ball on a string as he slalomed through Sydney's defensive lines time and again to the delight of the 83,598 crowd.
It was one of Chelsea's other first-team stars who opened the scoring with Loic Remy producing a powerful strike on the half hour to find the top corner for an entertaining game's only goal.
The goal brought the game to life with the hosts having an immediate chance to draw level, but Branislav Ivanovic acrobatically cleared Shane Smeltz's goal-bound effort in what was Sydney's best chance of the opening half.
Sydney, which lost 1-0 to Tottenham in front of more than 70,000 on Saturday, had a late opportunity but Seb Ryall's goal was ruled out for offside.
Chelsea beat a Thailand All Stars team 1-0 in Bangkok on Saturday, with Mourinho using the opportunity to field many of the squad's younger players.