Chelsea summer arrival Christopher Nkunku suffered a knee injury as his side struck late to ensure a 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund at Soldier Field on Thursday in the final match of their U.S. preseason tour.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side dominated possession for much of the game in Chicago, but it was Dortmund right-back Marius Wolf who finally broke the deadlock with a volley on 80 minutes, although teenage Chelsea forward Mason Burstow nodded home shortly before stoppage-time to level the scores.
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Pochettino admitted the pitch quality at at Soldier Field drew attention “wasn’t perfect,” with the stadium having hosted an Ed Sheeran concert at the weekend.
Soldier Field has a capacity of 61,500 but a record 73,000 turned up for the concert which had fans on the pitch surrounding the stage.
Nkunku went down clutching his leg after a challenge in the ninth minute, although Pochettino refused to blame the pitch.
“We took some risks because the pitch is not perfect. The facilities are used for a different sport and that is sometimes the risk of the tour,” Pochettino said.
“We won’t blame the pitch for the injury though. For me, it was bad luck.”
Nkunku came off midway through the first half in discomfort and was later seen with an ice-pack strapped to his knee.
“The doctors are checking him and I hope it is not a big issue. He fell in the action which was maybe a penalty and he feels something in his knee, but we hope it is nothing big,” Pochettino said.
“We hope he can be back quickly with the team. We need a few days to assess him.”
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
