Chelsea returnee defender, Ola Aina was in action as a second half substitute for The Blues on Monday, and helped them eke out a 1-0 win against Perth Glory FC at the start of their preseason tour of Australia.
Aina came off the bench after 73 minutes, in place of Davide Zappacosta, and played as right-back for the remaining part of the encounter, in which The Blues had many chances late on but could not add to their tally at Optus Stadium in Perth.
It was a game that saw Cheslea’s new manager, Maurizio Sarri name two 17-year-olds to his squad, Ethan Ampadu and Callum Hudson-Odoi alongside Nigerian-born England star, Ross Barkley, while Aina, Tammy Abraham, Ola Aina and Fikayo Tomori were substitutes.
Abraham replaced álvaro Morata after 61 minutes and went close to adding to the scoreline three minutes later, connecting with Mario Päsalíc only to see his effort go wide.
Hudson-Odoi teed up Pedro with a delightful assist for the only goal of the game with less than five minutes played in the first period.
Victor Moses and Kenneth Omeruo who both participated at the World Cup this summer have resumed training with the club at Cobham Training Base though they were not cleared in time to join their teammates in Perth.
They hope to be part of the club’s next pre-season games with Inter Milan, Arsenal and Olympique Lyon, the first of which comes up in Allianz Riviera, Nice on Saturday.
