Argyle 0 Chelsea 5 - REPORT
Argyle 0
Chelsea 5
Brown 20
Songo’o o.g. 37
Taylor- Crossdale 72
Anjorin 77
Redan 78
ARGYLE slumped to a disappointing defeat in their second Checkatrade Trophy match, as they were put to the sword by a clinical Chelsea Under-21 team.
Charlie Brown scored on 20 minutes and an own goal gave the visitors a cushion at the break, but the game was sealed by a three-goal blitz in the space of six minutes, as Martell Taylor-Crossdale, Tino Anjorin and Daishawn Redan all hit the target.
Argyle manager Derek Adams made five changes to the side that hammered Scunthorpe United on Saturday, with Matt Macey, Freddie Ladapo, Graham Carey, Joel Grant and Conor Grant all given a rest from the starting line-up.
Chelsea started brightly and caused Argyle a number of problems in terms of pace, although a corner from the left found Niall Canavan, who forced a good save from Jamie Cumming. Chelsea responded with more pressure and midfielder Brown fired a low shot into the bottom left corner for the opener.
The visitors were lucky to have all 11 players on the pitch by the half-hour mark, when Conor Gallagher clattered into Argyle captain Fox and was only shown a yellow card. Three minutes later, it was Fox in the book for a hefty reply on Gallagher.
Chelsea doubled their lead through an own goal by Songo’o. As the ball came in from the left, a big deflection off the Argyle defender left Cooper wrong-footed and with no chance.
Both sides were guilty of losing composure before half time with a few scuffles taking place. Chelsea started the second half as they had finished the first, although the Pilgrims were beginning to find themselves in better positions and making Chelsea work for it.
Chelsea sealed the win with a tap-in for Taylor-Crossdale and the visitors sealed victory with further goals from Anjorin and Redan.
Argyle: 31 Michael Cooper; 4 Yann Songo’o, 6 Jamie Ness (15 Conor Grant 66), 7 Antoni Sarcevic (10 Graham Carey 72), 8 David Fox (24 Peter Grant 59), 11 Ruben Lameiras, 14 Niall Canavan, 22 Tafari Moore, 23 Ashley Smith-Brown, 29 Alex Fletcher, 35 Luke Jephcott. Substitutes (not used): 1 Matt Macey (GK), 16 Joel Grant, 18 Calum Dyson, 19 Freddie Ladapo.
Booked: Fox 31, Ness 62
Chelsea: (3-5-2): 52 Jamie Cumming; 46 Joshua Grant, 47 Joseph Colley; 48 Richard Nartey, 50 Charlie Brown (58 Daishawn Redan 59), 51 Conor Gallagher, 54 Juan Castillo, 55 George McEachran (64Tino Anjorin 70), 56 Martell Taylor-Crossdale (53 Marc Guehi 75), 60 Billy Gilmour, 61 Tariq Lamptey. Substitutes: (unused): 63 Karlo Ziger (GK); 65 Renedi Masampu.
Booked: Gallagher 28
Referee: Anthony Coggins
Attendance: 1,504 (85 away)