Caicedo screamer and Joao Pedro brace seal dominant Chelsea win over AC Milan

Chelsea bounced back from recent pre-season setbacks in impressive fashion, dispatching AC Milan with relative ease. The narrative of the match was set early on by an intriguing tactical decision from Xabi Alonso, who deployed Italy international Marco Palestra in an unfamiliar left-back role. Palestra thrived in the position, providing constant width and creativity that the Italian giants failed to contain throughout a one-sided encounter.

Milan, coming off a draw against Inter, handed first starts of the summer to Rafael Leao and Luka Modric, but were hampered by the absences of Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez. The Blues looked the more dangerous side from the outset, with Koni De Winter’s early defensive lapse allowing Joao Pedro to race clear on goal, forcing Lorenzo Torriani into a tricky save.

Despite Milan’s attempts to stand firm, with Christian Comotto seeing a volley blocked and Pedro Neto testing the goalkeeper, the deadlock was finally broken just before the interval. Caicedo, who was a dominant force in the midfield battle, swung in a searching corner that found Pedro unmarked to head home.

The momentum stayed firmly with Chelsea as the second half commenced. Within just 38 seconds of the restart, Alonso’s men doubled their advantage. Neto floated a dangerous cross toward the back post where Pedro was waiting to bundle the ball home from point-blank range.

The contest was effectively ended in the 50th minute when Caicedo produced the moment of the match. With Milan failing to fully clear their lines from a corner, the ball looped out to the Blues captain on the edge of the D, where he met it with a sublime outer-boot volley into the far corner.

Ruben Amorim made eight changes during the second period, but the flow of the game remained largely in Chelsea's favor. This decisive victory proved crucial for the Blues, allowing them to rebuild confidence following back-to-back pre-season defeats against Juventus (1-0) and Tottenham (2-1).

Chelsea were unlucky not to add a fourth as the match entered its final stages. Geovany Quenda saw one effort blocked by Sankhoun Diawara before smashing a powerful strike against the upright. Nicolas Jackson also came close to getting on the scoresheet after shrugging off Vladimirov, but his effort clipped the woodwork as Milan’s defense continued to crumble under the relentless pressure from the English side.

Chelsea will wrap up their pre-season preparations against Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta'zim on Sunday, before kicking off their 2026-27 Premier League campaign with a clash against Fulham on August 24.