Mudryk returns for Chelsea in friendly defeat to Juventus in Hong Kong

[p]The Ukrainian winger came on as a substitute for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jackson-nicolas/jXg8d5RJ/"]Nicolas Jackson[/a] in the 82nd minute, drawing applause from his teammate and loud cheers from thousands of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a] fans at Kai Tak Stadium.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mudryk-mykhailo/W03dbPp4/"]Mudryk[/a] had not played since November 2024 because of a doping ban, but won permission to resume his football career on Friday after winning an appeal.[/b][/p][embed guid="bb65b45f-12ce-406a-9c3f-c48329506d3e" url="https://x.com/ChelseaFC/status/2084990937248207092?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" social-type="twitter" /][p]Despite a lively cameo on the left side, it was [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/juventus/C06aJvIB/"]Juventus[/a] who took the spoils thanks to a wonderful second-half strike from Kosovo international [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zhegrova-edon/vqK5oQ8e/"]Edon Zhegrova[/a].[/p][p]Neither side could find the breakthrough in a drab first half as two experimental line-ups, with Chelsea choosing to leave out [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/palmer-cole/h8agbDt7/"]Cole Palmer[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/colwill-levi/CQXNItIG/"]Levi Colwill[/a], struggled to create clear-cut chances.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/welbeck-danny/86PvpO11/"]Danny Welbeck[/a] could have scored a goal on his Chelsea debut but the veteran England striker failed to direct a flicked header on target after 11 minutes.[/b][/p][p]Juventus came closest a few minutes before half-time when midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boga-jeremie/pEEqeFXD/"]Jeremie Boga[/a] took aim from just outside the penalty area and forced Blues keeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sanchez-robert/Q74F6aqr/"]Robert Sanchez[/a] into a diving save.[/p][p]Early in the second period a long ball from Chelsea skipper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/caicedo-moises/tIqaAkDs/"]Moises Caicedo[/a] put full-back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/palestra-marco/Y3DYaDdP/"]Marco Palestra[/a] in on goal but his tame shot could not beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/perin-mattia/A3ZJNQg1/"]Mattia Perin[/a].[/p][p][b]Juventus finally broke the deadlock with a moment of magic in the 68th minute, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/yildiz-kenan/0EgOZVie/"]Kenan Yildiz[/a] squaring for Zhegrova who curled into the top corner from outside the area.[/b][/p][p]Both sides rang the changes but no number of substitutions gave Chelsea the cutting edge they craved as the game petered out.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/chelsea-4fGZN2oK/juventus-C06aJvIB/?mid=8UhDah7T"]Catch up on all the match stats with Flashscore[/a][/h2]