Chelsea opened their club World Cup campaign with three points in group D while she defeated Lafc 2-0 in what the very first CWC collision was between English and American opposition.
Chelsea were heavy favorites on paper and the opening phase ran faithfully. The American side was firmly attached in their own half, and it was the blues that did all the running, which eventually led to the first big chance of the game when Noni Madueke's left ride was blocked by Hugo Lloris' legs.
The men of Enzo Maresca were frustrated as half progressed, and their frustrations were proven by Cole Palmer, whose 30 -meter popshot who landed on the roof of the net was symptomatic for their early fight.
With an abundance of quality in the ranks, it always seemed likely that Chelsea would create a gilded opening.
That arrived properly just over 10 minutes before HT when Pedro Neto was freed before he stepped in, left a Lafc defender on the floor and hit home at the Near Post past Lloris.
The men from Tinseltown knew that they had to do something to change the flow of the game during the break, and the introduction of David MartÃnez on HT paid almost direct dividends when he cherished an effort, floating wide from the edge of the area.
But for all the early intention of Lafc in the second half, they were quickly reminded of Chesea's possibilities when the header of Nicolas Jackson was heroic blocked by Timothy Tillman.
Denis Bouanga gave an immediate reaction on the other hand when he cut in, in almost identical circumstances to open the score, only his efforts were blocked in the nearby post by Robert Sánchez.
They were left to Rue that opportunity missed 10 minutes after time when Chelsea doubled their advantage. New signature Liam Delap was involved in the debut and drove a cross in the box on which Enzo Fernández locked and shot in the corner.
MartÃnez came close to claiming a late consolation goal for Lafc, but his low ride was repelled by the immobile Sánchez. Neto hit the bar with the last kick of the game, but Chelsea made an early mark on group D and showed exactly why they are favorites to surpass the group.
A difficult -looking test against Flamengo then waits for them while the side of Steve Cherundolo against Esperance De Tunis is confronted.