67′ SAVE! Gerard releases Estupinan into space down the left-inside channel. He hammers a strike towards goal from a tight angle that Mendy blocks his body.
66′ Zouma is withdrawn from the backline as Christensen replaces the Frenchman.
M. Mount
T. Werner
65′ Mount comes on to the field to replace Werner in the final third.
Jorginho
N. Kanté
65′ Kante is withdrawn for the Blues after a solid shift tonight. Jorginho return to the fold in the middle of the park.
64′ Alonso clips a cross into the box from the resulting free-kick, but Zouma fouls Albiol as he connects with a header in the box.
63′ Pulisic twists and turns in the final third before drawing a foul from Estupinan. Chelsea have a free-kick in a useful position.
Yeremi Pino
Yellow Card
61′ Pino tussles with Alonso and gives away a free-kick. He reacts furiously to the decision by the assistant referee and is duly booked by the referee as he marches over.
60′ Gerard clips a dangerous cross towards Bia in the box, but Chalobah reacts to clear ahead of the Villarreal forward. The Chelsea defender has been busy in the second half.
P. Estupiñán
Pedraza
58′ Estupinan enters the action to replace Pedraza down the left flank for Villarreal.
56′ Chalobah has to stick out a boot to divert a dangerous cross from Gerard away from Pedraza at the back post, conceding a corner. Villarreal are asking questions of the Blues at the back.
55′ Chalobah takes a poor touch as he tries to usher the ball back to Mendy. Pedraza pounces in the left-inside channel, but his low cross into the middle is gathered by Mendy.
52′ OFF THE POST! Mendy slips as he boots a goal-kick down the field. The ball lands at the feet of Pino, who releases Gerard in the right-inside channel. The Spaniard beats Mendy with low strike on his left foot, only to see his effort bounce back off the right post. Mendy may just got a touch to deny Gerard, atoning for his mistake.
51′ Moreno tries to break in behind Chalobah down the left-inside channel, but the defender nudges the former Liverpool man off the ball and wins a goal-kick.
48′ WIDE! Alonso works an offload back to Havertz, who runs at the Villarreal defence. He lines up a blast that skims the side-netting as it travels wide of the target.
46′ We’re back under way at Windsor Park.
Thomas Tuchel will be satisfied with the performance of his team, although he will not have been pleased to have seen them pushed back towards the end of the half. The German will want to see a complete effort from the Blues ahead of their Premier League opener.
Chelsea hold a 1-0 lead over Villarreal at the break in their Super Cup clash. Hakim Ziyech converted a cross from Kai Havertz from close range to fire the Blues ahead. Villarreal could have hit back before the break, only for Alberto Moreno to be denied by the underside of the crossbar. It’s a tight affair at Windsor Park and there should be further goals in this one.
45′ + 4′ HALF-TIME: CHELSEA 1-0 VILLARREAL
45′ + 4′ WIDE! Pedraza attempts an effort from 25 yards on his left foot. He connects well with his strike, but Mendy watches it past the post.
45′ + 3′ OFF THE BAR! Villarreal come within millimetres of an equaliser as Moreno rattles the underside of the bar. The former Liverpool man latches on to Pino’s precise cross in the left-inside channel and connects sweetly with his effort. Mendy is beaten, but the ball strikes the underside of the bar, bounces off the line and travels to safety.
45′ Trigueros wastes the free-kick on the edge of the box as his cross is cleared by the first Chelsea defender.
45′ There will be three minutes of added time.
45′ Tuchel reacts poorly to the decision on the sideline and is yellow-carded by the referee. Manager and defender now have to be careful for the Blues.
A. Rüdiger
Yellow Card
45′ Rudiger is booked for his challenge on Pino, which was probably the fair decision.
44′ Rudiger clatters Pino with a strong challenge that leaves the winger on the deck after the fact. The Villarreal players react with fury to that tackle.
C. Pulisic
H. Ziyech
43′ Pulisic replaces Ziyech for the Blues in the final third. Hopefully the injury is not a serious one for Ziyech.
41′ Ziyech is going to have to make way with an injury. It is a blow for the Blues ahead of their Premier League opener on Saturday and tonight as the winger was playing well after scoring the opener.
39′ Ziyech requires treatment for the Blues after defending a Villarreal corner. The winger is down on the deck and appears to be in pain.
38′ Alonso has to act at the back post to divert a dangerous cross from Pedraza away from Trigueros. The Spaniard was on his mettle with his defensive duties after spending a large portion of the half at the other end of the pitch.
36′ CHANCE! Chelsea win a free-kick on the edge of the box on the left flank. Ziyech delivers a peach of a cross towards the back post that allows Zouma to attack the ball with his outstretched boot, only to clear the bar with his effort.
35′ SAVE! Alonso almost doubles Chelsea’s lead, only to be denied by a sharp stop from Asenjo. Ziyech fires a dangerous low ball into the box that Alonso steers towards the bottom-left corner, but the Villarreal keeper gets down quickly to make the save with a firm hand.
34′ Pedraza keeps the pressure on the Blues with a low cross that Chalobah has to divert away from danger. Better intent from the Spanish side.
33′ SAVE! Mendy denies Dia with a super stop rushing off his line. Foyth weaves his way through the Chelsea midfield and cuts open the defence with an incisive pass for Dia. The winger takes on the strike first time, but Mendy races out to make the block with his body.
31′ Villarreal need to press back at the Blues to get back into the game. Emery’s men have been passive in the opening 30 minutes.
29′ Villarreal press down the right flank in response. Pino tries to deliver a low ball into the middle from the right flank, but Alonso blocks his cross. Moreno takes on a strike from distance that travels well over the bar.
K. Havertz
Assist
27′ Havertz raids down the left-inside channel and fires a low ball across the face of goal that Ziyech turns into the back of the net.
H. Ziyech
Goal
27′ GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! ZIYECH PUTS CHELSEA AHEAD!!!!! 1-0!!!!! The Blues take the lead as Ziyech converts a low cross from Havertz from six yards out. Villarreal lose possession on the edge of their own box and it allows the German to surge down the left flank. He delivers a precise ball into the middle where the winger makes a good run before placing an effort past Asenjo.
24′ Torres makes a vital intervention at the back to prevent Chalobah firing at goal from close range after latching onto a precise cross from Ziyech at the back post. The Vilarreal man had to make a key challenge there.
23′ Alonso and Pino battle for possession near the left corner flag, and the Spaniard comes out on top for Chelsea before being fouled. The Blues have another free-kick in a useful position.
22′ Werner latches onto a throughball from Alonso in the left-inside channel, but Albiol gets back to make the intervention, knocking it off the forward to earn a goal-kick.
20′ Villarreal repel the first cross from Ziyech before he gets a second chance. He fires a low ball in towards the near post on the right flank, but Asenjo makes a comfortable catch.
18′ Pedraza sticks out a boot and catches Hudson-Odoi with a late boot. Chelsea are awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position on the right flank.
17′ Alonso has been active in the early stages of the contest and is finding space for the Blues down the left flank. Foyth is being made to work at right-back for Emery’s men.
15′ Dia leads a break down the left flank and he finds Pino in space on the opposite flank. However, the winger fails to connect with any of his team-mates with his cross into the box.
13′ Chelsea look a threat in the final third, but Tuchel will be aware of the Villarreal counter.
11′ Rudiger wins an important header at the back for the Blues to clear the danger from a corner from Moreno on the left flank. Albiol tries to connect with an ambitious volley on the second effort, but he miscues his kick.
9′ WIDE! Chelsea keep the pressure on the Spanish outfit. Kante collects the ball 25 yards from goal and goes for a blast. His effort just creeps past the left post and travels wide.
7′ SAVE! Ziyech floats a dangerous ball into the box from the resulting corner that Werner meets with an outstretched boot at the back post. Asenjo makes a sharp reaction stop to palm it away from danger.
6′ Alonso breaks down the left flank and gets the better of Foyth. He sends a low cross into the middle that has to be cleared behind by Albiol.
5′ Kovacic angles a deep diagonal down the right flank for the run of Hudson-Odoi. He tries to knock a low ball across the face of goal for Werner, but Torres acts to clear the danger.
4′ Chelsea are attempting to knock the ball around the pitch to build a rhythm, and the Spanish outfit are content to sit back in their shape.
2′ Gerard tries to combine with Dia on the edge of the box, but Kovacic and Kante converge to dispossess the winger before he can pull the trigger.
1′ We’re under way at Windsor Park.
Villarreal are unbeaten in their last 15 games in European competition (W12 D3), with the most recent three coming against English opponents in last season’s UEFA Europa League. They won 2-1 on aggregate against Arsenal in the semi-final, before beating Manchester United on penalties in the final following a 1-1 draw.
Asenjo gets the nod between the sticks tonight for Villarreal in place of Rulli, who scored the decisive penalty against United in the Europa League final. Elsewhere, new signing Dia joins Gerard and Pino in the final third ahead of a midfield trio of Moreno, Trigueros and Capoue. Villarreal are without Francis Coquelin, Dani Parejo and Samuel Chukwueze this evening due to injury.
Tuchel hands a start to Chalobah in the middle of the Chelsea backline this evening. The 22-year-old spent last season on loan at Lorient, but now has the opportunity to showcase his potential for the Blues. Hudson-Odoi gets the nod at right wing-back in an attacking team. Ziyech, Werner and Havertz will provide the spearhead in the final third with Abraham and Pulisic in reserve.
VILLARREAL SUBS: Mario Gaspar, Manuel Morlanes, Paco Alcacer, Vicente Iborra, Pervis Estupinan, Geronimo Rulli, Jorge Cuenca, Dani Raba, Ruben Pena, Aissa Mandi, Moi Gomez, Fernando Nino.
VILLARREAL (4-3-3): Sergio Asenjo; Juan Foyth, Raul Albiol, Pau Torres, Alfonzo Pedraza; Manu Trigueros, Etienne Capoue, Alberto Moreno; Yeremi Pino, Gerard Moreno, Boulaye Dia.
CHELSEA SUBS: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Andreas Christensen, Jorginho, Thiago Silva, Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Emerson.
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Edouard Mendy; Kurt Zouma, Trevor Chalobah, Antonio Rudiger; Callum Hudson-Odoi, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso; Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz.
Villarreal overcame Manchester United in the final of the Europa League last term on penalties and will be searching for another victory over an English opponent to secure another crown. Unai Emery’s men have not recorded a victory in pre-season so they’re in need of a positive display tonight ahead of their LaLiga opener against Granada on Monday. The club secured their first European honour in beating United, and they can kick off their term with a second by notching a victory over Chelsea. The Spanish outift will be up for the battle tonight.
Chelsea will look to kick off their competitive campaign with a victory in the Super Cup to add another trophy to their collection. The Blues were outstanding to win the Champions League final, beating rivals Manchester City 1-0 courtesy of Kai Havertz’s strike. Havertz along with Timo Werner will be looking to make a decisive impact tonight with Romelu Lukaku closing in on a Stamford Bridge return. Thomas Tuchel will see the contest as perfect preparation for their Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on Saturday. He will be determined to sign off pre-season with a strong performance.
Good evening and welcome to the live commentary of the Super Cup clash between Chelsea and Villarreal at Windsor Park.
A. Christensen
K. Zouma