Liam Delap made an instant impact for Chelsea as they defeated Los Angeles FC 2-0 in their sparsely-attended Club World Cup opener.
The new £30million signing from Ipswich - who is in the United States with Chelsea this summer instead of at the Under-21 European Championship with England - came off the bench to impress in Monday night’s Group D curtain-raiser played in front of more than 50,000 empty seats in Atlanta, showcasing his quality and providing a debut assist for Enzo Fernandez’s important goal that sealed victory late on.
Chelsea had initially led through Pedro Neto’s stylish first-half effort, deserving their opening three points but riding their luck at times in a competitive and open second half in what was the Blues’ first match since winning the Conference League final last month.
Manager Enzo Maresca made five changes to the team that started the 4-1 comeback win over Real Betis in Wroclaw less than three weeks ago, Robert Sanchez, captain Reece James, Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo and Romeo Lavia all coming into a strong XI as new signings Delap, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr started on the bench, along with returning loanee Andrey Santos.
The Blues dominated possession from the outset in front of a sparse crowd of only 22,137 fans at the 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the retractable roof was closed and air conditioning on amid the hot and humid conditions for a 3pm afternoon kick-off in Atlanta.
Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer were the dangermen for Chelsea early on, the former forcing a low save from ex-Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris as the latter - now wearing the No10 shirt - then saw a deflected effort fizzle narrowly over the crossbar and onto the roof of the net.
The breakthrough came in the 34th minute, when the effective Nicolas Jackson played a fine through ball into the path of Neto, who pulled off a sumptuous turn to check inside and ruthlessly pick out the bottom corner.
Maresca made a double switch at the break, with James and Lavia replaced by Malo Gusto and Fernandez as LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo sent for ex-Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, eager to haunt his former club after a delay to the second half caused by the Frenchman forgetting his shirt.
LAFC substitute David Martinez beat Marc Cucurella all ends up before slicing wide of the front post as the Major League Soccer (MLS) side grew into the game, with Chelsea then almost doubling their advantage as Jackson’s header from a Neto cross bounced just wide off Timothy Tillman.
Sanchez twice had to save from LAFC’s play-off hero against Club America, Denis Bouanga, first after the Gabon forward had shrugged off Neto too easily inside the box and later after a mistake from Gusto.
Jackson and Palmer continued to cause headaches for the Americans, with Maresca sending for Delap with just over 25 minutes to play in search of the elusive and pivotal second goal.
Tosin made a vital intervention to stop Giroud racing through on goal, with Delap offering a glimpse of what he can offer Chelsea with a couple of impressive runs off the defender before Palmer then lashed over the crossbar after exchanging passes with Neto.
Ryan Hollingshead did likewise at the other end during a frenetic period of the game, with chaos inside the Chelsea box as the ball ricocheted wide at the back post after some nervy pinball.
The Blues finally sealed their victory with just over 10 minutes to play in Georgia, Delap’s accurate cross taken in stride by fellow substitute Fernandez before he finished past Lloris from close range.
Undeterred, LAFC almost grabbed a lifeline to set up a grandstand finish through Bouanga, only for Sanchez to thwart him down low.
There was another Chelsea debut off the bench for Essugo, with LAFC denied a last-gasp penalty in stoppage time before Neto rattled the crossbar with the last kick of the match.
