Chelsea have beaten Inter Milan on penalties after their International Champions Cup encounter at the Allianz Riviera finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.
The Blues dominated the early stages of the encounter, with Ross Barkley forcing a save from Samir Handanovic three minutes in and Alvaro Morata seeing a headed goal ruled out for offside shortly after.
Morata was involved again as Chelsea broke the deadlock on nine minutes, the Spaniard getting a shot away from a tight angle and, despite Handanovic getting a hand to the ball, Pedro was able to convert on the rebound.
Inter's first serious foray in the opposition area did not come until the 21st minute as Antonio Candreva flashed a ball across the face of the Chelsea goal, but Mauro Icardi was not able to get a foot to it.
Maurizio Sarri's charges, however, lost momentum as the game went on, while the Nerazzurri became ever more threatening, but the former Premier League champions were able to maintain their lead until the break.
Inter did not take long to draw level after the restart, Tiemoue Bakayoko's wayward pass allowing Icardi to pounce and thread the ball into the path of Roberto Gagliardini, who duly fired home from inside the area.
With 15 minutes left to play, Danny Drinkwater tried his luck from range but blasted just wide of the post, while Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho and Tammy Abraham all weighed in with efforts to no avail.
As the game finished all square, the outcome had to be settled from the penalty spot, and Milan Skriniar's miss for Inter proved decisive as Chelsea found the net with all of their efforts from 12 yards.
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Bulka (Caballero 46'); Zappacosta (Azpilicueta 46'), Ampadu (Christensen 64'), Luiz (Rudiger 64'), Alonso (Emerson 64'); Fabregas (Drinkwater 46'), Jorginho, Barkley (Bakayoko 46'); Pedro (Moses 64'), Morata (Abraham 64'), Hudson-Odoi (Piazon 82')
INTER MILAN (3-5-2): Handanovic; D'Ambrosio, De Vrij (Ranocchia 65'), Skriniar; Candreva (Karamoh 65'), Emmers (Lautaro 46'), Asamoah, Gagliardini, Dalbert (Salcedo 82'); Politano, Icardi (Roric 65')
Giuseppe Labellarte
