Chelsea won its first match at the Club World Cup on Monday evening. The English top club was too strong for Los Angeles FC with 2-0 in a stadium in Atlanta that was at most half full.
In an uninspiring environment, Chelsea performed as expected. The Londoners had by far the most opportunities and took the lead after more than half an hour of play: Pedro Neto was sent away, cut inside and shot effectively into the near corner.
It was the only goal of the match for a long time, but ten minutes before the end, the Argentinian Enzo Fernández doubled the score. Debutant Liam Delap crossed well, after which Fernández controlled the ball and finished simply: 2-0.
Los Angeles FC had a few chances to equalize before that, but did not score. The American team included the well-known French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and Timothy Tillman, the brother of PSV player Malik Tillman, in the starting lineup. The French all-time top scorer Olivier Giroud came on after halftime.
Chelsea is first in Group D due to the victory. Fellow group members Flamengo and Espérance de Tunis will play each other in the night from Monday to Tuesday (kick-off at 3:00 AM). Boca Juniors-Benfica is also on the program.