Chelsea tops Celtic club in exhibition

SEATTLE — Mateja Kezman scored two goals in the second half to lead Chelsea over Glasgow Celtic 4-2 Saturday in the opener of a three-game U.S. exhibition tour.

Eidur Gudjohnsen assisted on Kezman’s first goal at the 53rd minute, tapping a short volley pass to Kezman who beat Magnus Hedman. Kezman’s second goal came in the 74th minute after taking a breakaway feed from defender Glen Johnson.

Gudjohnsen added his own goal in the 50th minute after taking a feed from forward Arjen Robben who split two defenders. Gudjohnsen drive, just inside the box, found the top-left corner.

Preparing for its Premier League opener against Manchester United on Aug. 15, Chelsea also plays AS Roma on Thursday at Pittsburgh and AC Milan on Aug. 2 at Philadelphia. Chelsea opened its preseason with a 1-1 tie last weekend against Oxford United.

Last year, Chelsea finished second in the Premier League, 11 points behind Arsenal and four ahead of Manchester United.

Celtic plays Liverpool on Monday in East Hartford, Conn., then plays Manchester United on Wednesday in Philadelphia and AS Roma on Saturday in Toronto.

Chelsea’s Alexis Smertin opened the scoring at the 22nd minute, taking a short pass from forward Adrian Mutu and blasting a 25-foot shot over Hedman.

Celtic forward Craig Beattie tied the match in the 27th minute on a rush down the right side. Beattie’s low shot, as he was tackled to the ground by Chelsea’s Robert Hugh, found a gap under goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini and just rolled over the line. Beattie later added a second goal when he redirected a penalty kick by Bobby Petta in the 68th minute.

Chelsea, owned by Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich, didn’t play its recent high-priced signings, forward Didier Drogba and midfielder Tiago Mendes, who weren’t eligible.