Joao Pedro came off the bench to grab a nine-minute hat-trick and inspire Chelsea to a first win under new boss Xabi Alonso.
The Blues started with a young team against Western Sydney Wanderers and the A-League side were leading 3-2 in the 65th minute but they could not contain the likes of Pedro, Cole Palmer and Willian Estevao when they were introduced.
Chelsea levelled through Jamie Gittens almost immediately and, although the home side restored their advantage through Awan Lual, Pedro rattled in a brilliant hat-trick to hand the Londoners an entertaining win.
Pedro responds to rumours Chelsea want Welbeck
Pedro missed out on a place in Brazil’s World Cup squad – controversially overlooked in favour of Neymar – but looked to have benefitted from a summer of rest. His timing was impeccable as Chelsea look to clinch a move for veteran Brighton centre-forward Danny Welbeck.
Pedro had to wait for his time to shine as Alonso named a youthful starting XI for the game at the Accor Stadium.
And the travelling fans had just seven minutes to wait before their team took the lead thanks to a lovely goal from Dastan Satpaev. Satpaev, technically playing as a triallist from his boyhood club Kairat Almaty until his move to Chelsea is confirmed when he turns 18 in August, ran on to Ryan Kavuma-McQueen’s through ball and lashed his effort high into the net.
Kavuma-McQueen also impressed in the early stages on a soggy pitch and could have made it 2-0 four minutes later, his left-foot shot tipped over the bar by Western Sydney goalkeeper Jordan Holmes.
The home side, who finished bottom of the A-League last season, finally got a foothold in the game and Chelsea goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe was called upon after 13 minutes to make a good save to deny Liam Gillian.
Sharman-Lowe did not cover himself in glory shortly after, though, failing to keep out Anthony Pantazopoulos’ header as Western Sydney levelled matters.
More slack defending enabled Aydan Hammond to put Western Sydney 2-1 ahead after 32 minutes but Chelsea pulled themselves level seven minutes before half-time with another sweeping move that culminated in Dario Essugo slotting into the bottom corner.
Chelsea youngsters impress but main men do the damage
The second period kicked-off with Chelsea having two 16-year-olds – Mahdi Nicol-Jazuli and Reggie Watson – in central midfield and the youngsters performed well before Western Sydney restored their advantage after 62 minutes, Dylan Scicluna firing home after a mistake from Landon Emenalo.
That was the cue for Alonso to bring on his big guns and the impact was immediate as Pedro set up Gittens to make it 3-3.
Estevao’s slack pass to Watson enabled Lual to nip in and pinch a fourth for the Wanderers but, from there on in, it was all Chelsea and all Pedro.
The former Brighton striker coolly made it 4-4 two minutes later and then latched on to Palmer’s pass to add a ninth goal of a chaotic evening with five minutes to go.
There was still more to come as Estevao’s corner was nodded back across goal by Wesley Fofana and Pedro was on hand to scramble the ball over the line.
Next up for Chelsea
Chelsea have four games remaining on their tour of Asia. All times are UK.
1 August: Chelsea v Tottenham (Accor Stadium, Sydney, 10:45)
5 August: Chelsea v Juventus (Kai Tak Stadium, Hong Kong, 12:30)
8 August: Chelsea v AC Milan (Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, 13:00)
11 August: Johor Darul Ta’zim v Chelsea (Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Johor, 13:00)
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