Olivier
Giroud scored twice as Chelsea beat St Patrick's 4-0 to seal Frank Lampard's
first win in charge of the club.
Giroud came off the bench to net a second-half double in Dublin after
first-half goals from Mason Mount and Emerson Palmieri had put the visitors
in control.
Chelsea's first-half XI
Caballero, Zappacosta, Tomori, Luiz, Emerson, Jorginho, Mount, Kovacic,
Barkley, Abraham, Batshuayi
Despite making 11 changes at half-time, Lampard - in just his second match
as Chelsea boss following their midweek draw at Bohemians - will still have
taken much from the friendly at Richmond Park as he gears up for the start
of the new Premier League season next month.
How Chelsea's recalled loanees caught the eye
Mount, who spent the previous campaign playing under Lampard while on loan
at Derby, was handed a first start as the new manager fielded a
strong-looking lineup, with the midfielder catching the eye with a
neatly-taken opening goal after 14 minutes.
Lampard also began with a front two of Tammy Abraham and Michy Batshuayi,
two other players recalled after being loaned out last season.
Chelsea's second-half XI
Cumming, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Zouma, Alonso, Bakayoko, Gilmour, Pedro,
Palmer, Kenedy, Giroud
The Belgian forward impressed with a dynamic first-half display in which he
was unlucky not to score, before Lampard changed both personnel and shape to
a 4-2-3-1 in the second period, with the experienced Giroud leading the
line.
And Giroud staked a claim to start away to Manchester United on the opening
weekend of the season with two well-taken goals to complement a first clean
sheet under the new manager.
Lampard: We need first-team competition
With Chelsea currently under a transfer embargo, their new head coach was
particularly impressed with how his youngsters performed in Dublin,
especially the likes of Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori.
"Good performance, good result. We could have scored a lot more goals was
the one thing I was slightly frustrated with. But I was particularly
impressed with the energy of the team I the first half, which I was thought
was great," said Lampard.
"You have to put everything into these games to get something out of them.
And the second half, I did not quite like as much and those are the things
that show you need to keep working.
"Fitness is what we are striving for and combinations and we already have
combinations with the ball, but our fitness can get much netter.
"A lot has been made of the younger players we have here and they need to
know that if they impress and put what they did into a game like today's,
then great.
"From the first moments you could see that Mason, Tammy and Tomori were
really at it and that is what we want. We need to have competition in the
squad, we work hard here, the academy has been first class for years and we
want those players to show they deserve a place in the team."
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