Sunday 7 August 2016 21:19, UK
Chelsea ended their pre-season campaign on a high with a 4-2 win over Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion in Germany on Sunday.
Eden Hazard opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a powerful strike before Oscar added a second as the Blues looked to be racing away with the game less than 10 minutes in.
But Bremen pulled one back just after the half-hour mark when the German side were awarded a penalty which Claudio Pizarro coolly converted, after Nemanja Matic brought down Zlatko Junuzovic with a sliding tackle.
Chelsea reinstated their two-goal lead moments before half time, when Diego Costa fired home after some impressive build-up play by Hazard.
Chelsea showed lapses in concentration at times and Bremen took their chances to provide a threat on the counter-attack, which paid off when Thibaut Courtois was beaten for the second time when Lennart Thy sent a powerful drive into the bottom corner in the 65th minute.
Bremen continued to threaten during the second half, but it was Conte's men who rounded off the result when Pedro fired in at the death.
Chelsea will now return to England as they prepare for their opening Premier League fixture at home to West Ham on Monday, 15 August, live on Sky Sports.
It was a lively start for Chelsea who afforded their opposition little time on the ball before Hazard's powerful strike from close-range broke the deadlock.
Just moments later, sublime link-up play from Hazard, Costa and Oscar teed up the latter who finished well to double his side's advantage.
Courtois was tested in the 15th minute when Junuzovic took a shot at goal from 30 yards out, but the Belgian produced a stunning fingertip save to tip the effort onto the bar.
Costa had the chance to add a third for Chelsea when he took a brilliant first touch, opening up his body and finding space to get a shot away, but Bremen's defence were on hand to block the effort.
And it was Bremen who netted next when Matic's tackle sent Junuzovic to the ground, conceding a penalty which Pizarro calmly slotted into the side netting.
Just as the pace began to slow towards half-time, Hazard displayed pure class to put Costa through on goal, with the Spaniard making no mistake as he fired home to strengthen his team's advantage on the half-time whistle.
Costa should have added a fourth for Chelsea ten minutes into the second half when Hazard's enticing pass gave him the chance to fire home, but the striker's shot went wide.
Instead it was Bremen who added another when, moments after coming off the bench, Lennart Thy got his side back into the game with a low drive into the bottom-right corner.
There were worrying scenes as John Terry limped off with 15 minutes to play after taking a knock on the head from a Bremen defender, but the substitution looked to be more a case of precaution for Conte.
The Bundesliga side fought for an equaliser, but it was Chelsea who bagged a late goal as a Cesc Fabregas pass, helped on by Michy Batshuayi, found substitute Pedro who finished expertly with the final kick of the game.
