Staff Reporter.
Chelsea got their Club World Cup campaign under way with a 2-0 victory over MLS side LAFC in front of thousands of empty seats at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Slow ticket sales have been a big talking point at FIFA’s new-look tournament and just 22,137 were in attendance in a 71,000-capacity stadium to see Pedro Neto give Enzo Maresca’s side the lead in the 34th minute.
The Chelsea fans in Atlanta got their first glimpse of new £30m signing Liam Delap midway through the second half and he made an instant impact, teeing up Enzo Fernandez as the Premier League side made a winning start in Group D.
Underdogs LAFC, featuring World Cup-winning French duo Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris, caused problems but could not take chances which fell to Denis Bouanga and substitute David Martinez.
Midfielder Dario Essugo also made his debut for Chelsea, who have now won eight of their past nine matches, including the Conference League final.
Reacting to Chelsea’s victory, Blues boss Enzo Maresca said: “Very good result.
“At this stage of the season it’s also normal that you have to manage different kinds of things. Overall I think the performance has been good and we won the game.”
Chelsea take on Brazilian side Flamengo in Philadelphia on Friday (19:00 BST), while LAFC face ES Tunis in Nashville (23:00). The culmination of Group D is the following Tuesday, when Chelsea play Tunis and LAFC meet Flamengo.