Chelsea ended their pre-season tour of Austria with a convincing 3-0 win over RZ Pellets to give Antonio Conte his first win as Blues boss.
Goals from academy products Bertrand Traore, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathaniel Chalobah were enough to seal the friendly win for the London club, who will now prepare for their tour of the United States.
Improvement already showing
The Blues looked a lot better tonight than in their defeat to Rapid Vienna over the weekend and began the game well, controlling things early on. It took just 13 minutes for Chelsea to go close to breaking the deadlock after Victor Moses' curling shot smashed off the post. Two minutes later, Moses was involved again as his work down the left allowed him to square it to Traore, who skied his effort from six yards out.
The home side had a chance of their own just after the half hour mark but Phillipp Prosenik's effort inside the box was blocked well. Five minutes before the break, Chelsea had their first goal under Antonio Conte. An excellent counter sprung by Moses before the ball was worked wide to Willian and the Brazilian's cross was bundled home by Traore. A lovely team goal for Chelsea to make it 1-0.
More youth, more goals
RZ Pellets had the best chance of the opening ten minutes in the second half as a corner was swung in and the substitute, Dario Baldauf, was unmarked at the back post but his header hit the side netting. A golden chance for the hosts to level but it was squandered.
Despite not being named on the bench, Michy Batshuayi came on for his debut after signing from Marseille and almost marked the ocassion with a goal. A superb threaded pass from Willian found Batshuayi and the Belgian rounded the goalkeeper but his touch was too heavy to get a shot away. Instead of shooting, he found Moses storming into the area but the winger's shot was cleared off the line by Peter Tschernegg.
Chelsea wrapped up the victory with six minutes to go as Moses' corner was met by Loftus-Cheek inside the six yard box and the youngster's header found the back of the net. A nightmare of a mistake from the goalkeeper but a well-taken goal from Loftus-Cheek.
A third goal would arrive for Chelsea in the dying seconds and the goalscorer would be another academy product, Nathaniel Chalobah. Christian Atsu's ball found Chalobah on the edge of the area and the Englishman beat two defenders with a little trickery and pace before smashing the ball into the far corner.
A comfortable win on the night for Conte's side who will now prepare to face the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool in the United States. A positive performance and three goals from three academy products will be a huge deal for Chelsea fans.