Wrexham impressed in a 2-2 draw against Premier League side Chelsea in the Levi’s Stadium.
Chelsea posed a tough challenge for Wrexham on their Wrex Coast tour.
However, Phil Parkinson‘s side impressed and continued their unbeaten run in pre-season after a 5-1 win at Hanley Town, a 1-1 draw with AFC Bournemouth, and an impressive 2-2 draw with Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea.
French forward Christopher Nkunku made the breakthrough for the Premier League side in the 35th minute.
Wrexham kept up their intensity and would find an equalising goal through a nice finish at the back post from Luke Bolton. The former Salford winger was able to show his attacking abilities to find the space for a tap-in at the back post.
Jack Marriott showed his quality after giving Wrexham a 2-1 lead in the 71st minute.
The former Derby County striker aggressively pressed the Chelsea midfield and won the ball for his team with a lunging slide tackle. Marriott would quickly receive the ball to run at the goal where he confidently placed into the bottom right corner to give the Red Dragons the lead.
However, in the 82nd minute, Chelsea midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu gave Chelsea a late equalising goal to prevent Wrexham from celebrating a huge win.
Journalist Marc Mayo impressed by intensity of Wrexham vs Chelsea
Last year when Wrexham faced Chelsea on their pre-season tour the North Wales side suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat.
However, this year, Parkinson’s side was very impressive and we were determined to get a result.
Wrexham showed their intensity from kick-off with the veteran James McClean getting into a scuffle with Chelsea’s Levi Colwill in the second minute of the game.
After a slightly late challenge by McClean, the pair had a handful of each other’s shirts as their teammates separated them. This only added to the intensity of the game with Wrexham determined to show their quality.
The Standard’s Marc Mayo covered a live blog of the game, on his live blog, he said: “There’s a serious pace about this friendly, let’s see how that lasts.”
However, the pace did remain throughout the game with both sides strongly competing for a positive result.
At the end of the game, Mayo said: “Wrexham pushed the Blues all the way in Santa Clara on Wednesday night despite deservedly falling behind to a Christopher Nkunku strike in the first half.”
Wrexham were impressive against Chelsea
The Chelsea game was always going to be a tough challenge for the North Wales side. However, Parkinson’s squad showed their quality and confidence in being able to compete.
The Wrexham stars were keen to show their abilities as individuals, but also as a collective that they could be a tough team to face off against.
The pre-season fixture was a good opportunity for the players to impress the manager to help their chances of being in the starting XI against Wycombe Wanderers on the opening day of League One.
Both Bolton and Marriott are keen to become regular starters at the Racecourse and took advantage of their opportunity against Chelsea.
Bolton showed his attacking credentials as a wing-back with a goal at the back post. Marriott is showing he still has a lot to offer for Wrexham with a quality finish for the second goal.
Wrexham are set to travel to Vancouver for their last fixture of the Wrex Coast Tour to face MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps. Parkinson will be hoping his team can keep up their positive performances and secure a victory in Canada.