Blues beaten by late goal in Philadelphia

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MLS All-Stars 3 Chelsea 2

Former Fulham forward Eddie Johnson scored an injury-time winner against Chelsea in an entertaining friendly in Philadelphia.

The Blues trailed to Chris Wondolowski’s 20th-minute goal before John Terry headed home a corner from Frank Lampard, who put them ahead in the second half when he netted following Ramires’ cross.

But Chris Pontius grabbed a 72nd-minute equaliser and Johnson’s deflected shot meant the European champions were beaten in the third game of their US tour.

Terry scored Chelsea’s first.

The MLS All-Stars line-up included former England captain David Beckham and ex-Arsenal star Thierry Henry.

And Henry was involved in the opener, latching on to Landon Donavan’s pass and crossing for Wondolowski to slot past keeper Hilario.

Chelsea had a decent spell of pressure following their equaliser, although Henry came close to putting his team back in front when he sidefooted over after being found by Beckham.

Roberto Di Matteo’s side started the second half strongly, with Romelu Lukaku firing just over before keeper Dan Kennedy produced a fine save to deny Lampard after the midfielder had been set up by Marko Marin.

But a mistake by Kennedy a minute later gifted Chelsea the lead. He failed to claim Ramires’ ball into the box, leaving Lampard with a simple finish.

To their credit, the All-Stars kept going and were rewarded when Dwayne De Rosario pulled the ball back for Pontius to score.

Chelsea should arguably have been awarded a last-minute penalty as Florent Malouda’s cross appeared to be handled by Steven Beitashour.

And the hosts enjoyed another slice of luck when Johnson’s effort hit the unfortunate David Luiz and went in.

See also:
Blues draw with PSG in New York friendly
Hazard and Marin score as Chelsea win in Seattle

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