Chelsea passed their toughest test since Jose Mourinho returned as manager, posting a 2-0 friendly win Thursday over Inter Milan, the team Mourinho guided to the 2010 Champions League crown.
Mourinho, who managed Chelsea from 2004 to 2007, returned to Chelsea in June after managing Spain’s Real Madrid the past two seasons.
The victory, courtesy of goals from Oscar and Eden Hazard in the first half hour, saw Chelsea book a meeting with AC Milan on Sunday in New York in the International Champions Cup friendly tournament.
The event, which also features Everton, Juventus, Real Madrid, Valencia and the Los Angeles Galaxy, concludes in Miami on August 7.
Chelsea had comfortably won all three of their matches in a tour of Asia before arriving Stateside, but it was Inter who had the first real chance on Thursday when Fredy Guarin unleashed a volley on goal after 10 minutes only to see it sail just wide of the post.
Chelsea took the lead in the 12th minute as Nigeria’s Victor Moses broke through to the edge of the penalty area and passed to Oscar, who curled a superb shot past Samir Handanovic and into the upper corner of the net.
They doubled their advantage in controversial circumstances in the 28th minute.
Real Madrid down LA Galaxy
In Phoenix, French striker Karim Benzema scored twice in the second half and Real Madrid coasted past the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 Thursday in the International Champions Cup friendly tournament.
Angel Di Maria also scored for Real, his 15th-minute goal putting the Spanish giants on the path to a fourth win in as many years over the two-time defending Major League Soccer champions. With the win, Real booked a clash with English Premiership club Everton in the winners’ bracket of the tournament on Saturday in Los Angeles.