Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez were both on goal, but Chelsea was far from convincing in a 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC to start their club World Cup campaign.
Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson both went close to the side of Enzo Maresca in their group D -opener on Monday for the Senegal striker Teed the nice finish of Neto after 34 minutes in Atlanta.
A reverse pass to the left of Jackson released Neto, who then left Lafc defender Ryan Hollingshead on the floor with a cute turn before he shoots low past the former Tottenham -goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
However, Lafc had their chances of starting the second half, when David Martinez skewed the target before Robert Sanchez denied the bustling effort of Denis Bouanga.
Timothy Tillman also widely widely widely before Liam Delap, which made his Chelsea debut of the bank, in the 79th minute from close replacement Fernandez was overtaken for fellow replacement Fernandez to hit home and shoot.
Bouanga again went close to reaction before Neto's late strike brushed the bar when Chelsea saw an expected victory that she is well -in -law for a seductive meeting with Brazilian Giants Flamengo on Friday.
To a great start. pic.twitter.com/l4t0mhlmle
– Chelsea FC (@chelseafc) June 16, 2025
Data Debrief: Chelsea dominates as Lloris's pain continues
Lloris is no stranger to Chelsea and is confronted here in all competitions for the 24th time – his most appearances against one opponent – but after this defeat he won only four of those meetings.
Chelsea indeed dominated a new collision against Lloris, but not with complete control when the men of Maresca 1.96 expected goals (XG) built up to Lafc's 0.82.
Their struggles for the goal were not helped by star striker Palmer, who tried a game-high six shots without anyone who thought the target, although those opportunities were only worth 0.29 xg.
Maresca will hope that Palmer can find shape, because he seems to make an impression with Chelsea at the Club World Cup, in which they reached the final earlier in 2012 before they won the 2021 edition in their only two performances.