Chelsea
Chelsea

Chelsea’s preparations for the upcoming season took a big blow as they suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Charlotte FC on penalties after Conor Gallagher hit one of the worst penalties of all time.

The game, which was scheduled at 5:00am (IST) kicked-off an hour late due to an electrical storm just when the players were on the pitch for warm up.

However, lightening continued in the game after both the sides battled in an end-to-end game. Thomas Tuchel went with a 3-4-3, with Emerson-Thiago Silva-Reece James as the back-three and Pulisic-Batshuayi-Ziyech as the front three.

Chelsea
Christian Pulisic, who was playing in front of his home crowd opened the scoring for Chelsea. Image Credits: Twitter

As the game progressed, homeboy Christian Pulisic was cheered by the crowd whenever called into action. The first-half saw a total domination from Chelsea, even opening the scoring.

Conor Gallagher’s bizarre penalty cost Chelsea the shoot-out

Christian Pulisic put Chelsea in front at the half-hour mark after a deflected shot from Batshuayi fell in his way. The American, who was one-on-one with the Charlotte ‘keeper cleverly chipped the ball into the back of the net.

Second-half meant both the sides completely substituted their starting eleven. This saw Chelsea’s new signing Raheem Sterling take the field for the first time in the Blue colours.

Charlotte started the second-half on a good note, creating difficulties for Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy. They were finally rewarded in the stoppage time, with a Chalobah handball in the penalty box.

The referee quickly pointed towards the penalty spot, and Daniel Rios stepped up to bring back Charlotte on level in the dying minutes.

The game eventually went on to the penalty shoot-out since there is no extra-time slotted in the preseason.

Rios once again opened the scoring for Charlotte in the shoot-out. Kai Havertz equalized for the Blues. Christian Makoun, Anton Walkes scored for the MLS side, sandwiched by a Ben Chilwell penalty.

Chelsea
Conor Gallagher’s loose penalty cost Chelsea a win. Image Credits: Twitter

However, Chelsea’s loan returnee Conor Gallagher chose to go straight with Chelsea’s third spot-kick and his poorly hit penalty landed straight into the goalkeeper’s hand, who didn’t have to move an inch to save it.

Charlotte’s Joseph Mora made it 4-2 from his penalty, while Sterling pulling one back for Chelsea to make it 4-3. But Kamil Jozwiak scored the fifth and final spot-kick to win the game for Charlotte FC.

Gallagher’s technique was called into question after he bizarrely struck his kick. Meanwhile, many clubs including his former side Crystal Palace have enquired for Gallagher this summer.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is expected to make a decision on the 22-year-old after the preseason.