Chelsea embarrass Arsenal 3-0 in Beijing’s ‘London derby’

Beijing, July 22 (IANS) Chelsea played the pre-season friendly with intensity more like the traditional London football derby as they outclassed Arsenal 3-0 at the Bird's Nest here on Saturday.

Brazilian forward Willian's curving shot and Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi's brace gifted the victory to the English champions, reports Xinhua news agency.

FA Cup winners Arsenal looked less well prepared compared to the defending champions despite newcomer Alexandre Lacazette starting as the central forward.

It might be a friendly but both sides were not holding back. Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte has not disappointed his club's Chinese fans as the Italian fielded a strong and familiar 3-4-3 line-up in front of 55,618 spectators on a cool summer weekend night.

Chelsea took the lead four minutes before the break. Willian cut in from the left wing and fired home in off the far post.

Batshuayi doubled the advantage just one minute later. The Belgian striker struck the ball to the far corner on the edge of the box after meeting a through pass from N'Golo Kante.

Batshuayi scored his second just five minutes after the restart when he powered into a first-time finish from outside the area after Marcos Alonso's pass.

The two London teams will meet again in the season-opening Community Shield two weeks later at Wembley.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)