Thibaut Courtois was the hero in Charlotte, scoring the winning penalty and saving two of PSG’s in the shoot-out following an exciting 1-1 draw in normal time.
The goalkeeper kept out spot-kicks from Jean-Christophe Bahebeck and Thiago Silva before blasting the 14th and final penalty into the top corner, handing the English Champions the victory against the French champions.
In normal time it was Victor Moses who cancelled out Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s opener. The Swede fired home a rebound midway through a first half mostly dominated by the Parisians.
Chelsea were much improved after the break and deservedly levelled when Cesc Fabregas expertly picked out a fine Moses run, whose subsequent close-range volley was crisp and clinical. Falcao then came on for his first appearance in a Chelsea shirt and impressed. He was also one of six Chelsea players to score their penalty having stepped up first.
The starting line-up included the back four that began so many games together last season, and behind them, as Jose Mourinho had promised, was Begovic. Cesar Azpilicueta completed 90 minutes for the second game running. As in New Jersey, Moses began out wide, while there were first starts of the summer for Nemanja Matic, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.
PSG’s team had plenty of familiar faces, none more so than David Luiz. Ibrahimovic captained.
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