RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 15: Joao Pedro of Chelsea celebrates with teammate Reece James after scoring his team’s second goal during the pre-season friendly match between Chelsea and Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge on August 15, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Chelsea Football Club/Chelsea FC via Getty Images) | Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Sunny day at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea take on Real Sociedad for our last preseason match before the 2026-27 officially begins. It fit our general spirit as the Blues seemed eager to show home fans a better side of Xabi Alonso’s football.
The hosts didn’t take long to take over the pitch and start creating chances. On one of those with a superb Pedro Neto cross, João Pedro almost netted his sixth preseason goal. While goalkeeper Álex Remiro did save JP’s effort, he couldn’t do it a second time as new signing Morgan Rogers got us the opening goal on a rebound.
With the initial 15 minutes breezing past us, Real Sociedad began finding more space in defence. Their shots weren’t hard to defend at first, but they got increasingly tricky as time went by.
After some close range shaves, the visitors found the equaliser right before the end of first half with Jon Aramburu’s long range effort. At a time where it didn’t seem like Chelsea had the energy or the will to score more goals.
Chelsea returned from the tunnels with the same impetus they started the match, which usually bodes well for us. Soon after captain Reece James found João Pedro at the far post with a cross and the Brazilian striker got himself in the scoreline as a result.
João Pedro’s goal gave Chelsea a confidence boost to keep pushing for more goals, and we were really unlucky in not getting a third before the first barrage of substitutes came in. The newly introduced players did take a while to warm up, but they didn’t let us down as Malo Gusto — playing in place of Pedro Neto — assisted JP’s second goal.
Better aim would have netted us even more goals. Still a 3-1 scoreline against a top-10 La Liga team just before our first official match of the season is nothing to scoff at.
Carefree!
Very strong lineup.
Good start, awful rest of first half for Chelsea.
Much better — and needed — effort in the second part.
Next up: Fulham away in our 2026-27 Premier League debut.
KTBFFH!
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