Last night, 2013 AFCON winner John Mikel Obi hosted Chelsea Legends at Stamford Bridge, defeating Bayern Legends.
A packed Stamford Bridge welcomed their idols back to the pitch as Chelsea Legends defeated Bayern Munich Legends 4-0 last night, with a host of celebrities giving them a warm welcome.< strong>Soccernet.ng reports. /p>
The match was a tribute to the late Gianluca Vialli, with the Blues team posing for pictures next to his iconic number 9 shirt before kick-off.
The Italian striker passed away earlier this year and proceeds from the match will go to Royal Marsden on Saturday to cancer charities and the Chelsea Foundation. Collected donations.
The Chelsea Legends team featured many fan favorites including John Terry, Petr Cech, Michael Essien, former Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi, Gary Cahill, Salomon Kalou, Florent Malouda and Gianfranco Zola.
A night to remember back home! 🏡📸 pic.twitter.com/eToy3dWPqQ
– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) 1 September 2023
Bayern’s legendary team included players such as Giovane Elber, Claudio Pizarro, Roy MacAeye, Owen Hargreaves, Lucio, Thomas Helmer and Hans-Jörg Butt.
The #FCBayernLegends game ends in a 4-0 win for @ChelseaFC legends.
Pek Gehabut, Lute! 👏👏#MiaSanMia #CFCFCB pic.twitter.com/XhArlmDQbL
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) September 9, 2023
Ghanian legend, Michael Essien got the blues off to a flying start as he headed home from another Chelsea legend, Ramires’s cross to open the scoring, and in the twenty-sixth minute, either by fate or coincidence, Chelsea’s legendary centre-back, and the famous number twenty-six doubled the lead.
The night’s captain, John Terry, dribbled past the Bayern players and connected with Malouda, who handed the ball back to Terry who scored, pointing to the sky and paying tribute to Vialli.
Captain. Leader. Legend. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/0XLybjV2Sa
– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) 9 September 2023
Terry and Cahill partnered together for Chelsea in defence for a total of a hundred and thirty-four games during their playing days, and the duo made sure the team kept a clean sheet, but this time, Cahill would be on the scoresheet, like he so often was in front of the 5th stand.
Claude Makelele came off the bench to win the ball in typical fashion before finding his fellow substitute, Gianfranco Zola out wide, and played a one-two with Cahill, who made a darting run into the box, and the ball found Tiago, who squared the ball to Cahill to send the Blues three up on the hour mark.
Tiago would then get his goal, as Essien played a through ball to the Portuguese, and he delicately chipped the goalkeeper to score the Blues’s fourth goal of the game, as they put a smile on the faces of a sold-out Stamford Bridge.
The game brought joy to the faces of Chelsea fans and they will be hoping the charity game will bring a turn of fortune to the club, after disappointing losses to Nottingham Forest and West Ham.
