Chelsea Dominates Milan in Jakarta with Joao Pedro's Double

Under the thick Jakarta heat, Chelsea treated a pre-season friendly like a statement. A strong XI, a clear edge in intensity, and a 3–0 win over AC Milan that looked, by the end, routine.

At the centre of it all stood Joao Pedro.

For half an hour, though, there was little routine about it. The first half slogged along, sticky and slow, with Milan sharper out of the blocks. They pressed higher, moved the ball quicker and, for a spell, pinned Chelsea back. The Italian side looked the more settled outfit while Chelsea tried to find their rhythm in the 30C humidity.

Gradually, Xabi Alonso’s team began to bite into the game. Passes stuck. Presses connected. Joao Pedro started to drift into pockets where Milan’s back line didn’t enjoy following him. Each Chelsea attack seemed to have his fingerprints on it, whether he was linking play or dragging defenders out of position.

The breakthrough felt inevitable once he truly took charge.

Deep into first-half stoppage time, Chelsea finally cashed in. A corner swung into the box, Milan’s marking wavered for a split second, and Joao Pedro pounced. He rose, met the delivery cleanly and steered his header home. A scrappy half, decided by a striker who refused to let it drift to the interval goalless.

Chelsea walked off 1–0 up, but they came back out as if still chasing the game.

Within seconds of the restart, the same man struck again. Chelsea won a free-kick, Pedro Neto stood over it and whipped in a teasing ball. Milan’s reshuffled defence froze; Joao Pedro did not. Arriving at the perfect moment, he swept the delivery in from close range to double the lead almost before Milan had touched the ball.

The contrast between the two benches could not have been clearer. Milan had rolled the dice at half-time with eight changes, a full reshuffle that left them disjointed and scrambling for structure. Alonso, by contrast, trusted the side that had grown into the first half, keeping his starters on in the heat and backing their fitness and focus.

That faith was rewarded again minutes later.

From another corner, the ball was worked to the edge of the area, where Moises Caicedo waited. One touch, then a thundering volley. He caught it flush, sending a spectacular strike ripping into the net for 3–0. It was the moment that turned a solid performance into a statement scoreline.

With the contest effectively settled, Chelsea shifted gears. The urgency in attack eased, replaced by control. They managed the tempo, picked their moments to press, and denied Milan any real sense of momentum. The Italian side saw more of the ball as legs tired and the game stretched, but clear chances never truly came.

Chelsea’s back line stayed alert, the midfield continued to snap into challenges, and the clean sheet survived without major alarm until the final whistle.

For Alonso, this was exactly what a pre-season afternoon is supposed to deliver: sharp finishing from his main forward, a thunderbolt from Caicedo, energy and bite in midfield, and the kind of defensive discipline that makes a three-goal lead feel unshakeable.

The score will fade when the competitive fixtures arrive. The habits on display in Jakarta will not.