Chelsea lose out to Real in Miami friendly

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Real Madrid as they beat Chelsea 3-1 in a friendly in Miami.

Ramires netted a lovely goal for the Blues but it was former Manchester United man Ronaldo who stole the show at the Sun Life Stadium.

Real made a lively start to the Guinness International Champions Cup final and Marcelo put them ahead by firing into the bottom corner on the quarter-hour mark.

Chelsea levelled two minutes later when Ramires finished a nice move by cleverly dinking the ball over goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Ronaldo had a chance to restore Real’s lead but volleyed wide from Marcelo’s cross, before Frank Lampard had an effort saved by Casillas.

However, Ronaldo did put his team back in front with a free-kick 13 minutes before the interval and Real ended the first half very much on top.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, coming up against the club he left at the end of last season, started with a 4-3-3 formation with Oscar and Eden Hazard playing wide of Romelu Lukaku in attack.

He switched to a 4-2-3-1 system for the second half, with Lukaku, Oscar and Lampard making way for Fernando Torres, Victor Moses and Kevin de Bruyne.

The change had an effect – Hazard went close with a well-struck shot before Casillas kept out Branislav Ivanovic’s header.

And when Hazard was set up by Ramires’ excellent pass, the Belgian could only shoot straight at the keeper.

Having enjoyed a spell of pressure, Chelsea suddenly found themselves further behind when Ronaldo headed home Isco’s 57th-minute cross.

Mourinho’s side are next in action on Saturday, when their USA tour concludes with a match against Roma in Washington.

Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (Azpilicueta 72), Cole; Ramires (Essien 72), Van Ginkel (Schurrle 72), Lampard (Moses 45); Oscar (De Bruyne 45), Lukaku (Torres 45), Hazard.

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