hristopher Nkunku’s injury soured an outstanding pre-season for Chelsea which was bookended with a 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund.
Marius Wolf opened the scoring by tapping in Samuel Bamba’s shot but academy striker Mason Burstow equalised in the 90th minute.
Chelsea should have won having dominated through the 90 minutes, however, but saw chances cleared off the line, were denied a stone wall penalty and were, at times, wasteful in front of goal.
Mauricio Pochettino will be happy with what he saw despite losing his first match since joining Chelsea.
Nizaar Kinsella was at Soldier Field in Chicago witnessing the action.
Kepa Arrizabalaga – 6
Rarely tested by Dortmund, not at fault for the goal.
Reece James – 5
James should have been sent off for a foul on Ramy Bensebaini and is still working his way up to his level after injury.
Thiago Silva – 7
His flick-on set up a big Levi Colwill chance while his defending and his passing was on point.
Levi Colwill – 8
Levi Colwill is playing very well after his contract renewal. Some brilliant, front-footed defending mixed with great distribution.
Ben Chilwell – 7
Good set-piece delivery had a great effort saved by goalkeeper Alexander Mayer.
Conor Gallagher – 6
Defensively strong but contributed little in attack.
Enzo Fernandez – 8
Headed an early chance over but played very well in possession and set up the equaliser.
Carney Chukwuemeka – 7
Involved in some good moves and almost scored in the second half.
Raheem Sterling – 4
Put Reece James under pressure with his poor defending and offered little in attack.
Sterling struggled against the German side in Chicago
/ USA TODAY Sports via Reuters ConChristopher Nkunku – 7
Played brilliantly for the first 22 minutes but came off injured. He was the victim of the terrible pitch.
Nicolas Jackson – 7
Missed a huge chance early on but played well afterwards and led the line well.
Substitutes
Mykhailo Mudryk – 7
Provided a silver lining to Nkunku’s injury with a creative and dangerous performance after replacing him.
Ian Maatsen – 7
Made an immediate impact coming on by almost scoring a great volley.
Marc Cucurella – 5
His mistake allowed Julian Brandt in behind to lead to the corner that Chelsea conceded from.
Bashir Humphreys – 6
Added another good 30 minutes to his positive pre-season.
Malo Gusto – 6
Once again excelled in his one-versus-one defending.
Lewis Hall – N/A
Mason Burstow – 8
The 19-year-old headed in his only chance, can’t ask for more than that.
Unused substitutes Slonina, Bergstrom, Chalobah, Santos, Ugochukwu, Casadei, Angelo, Moreira.
