Chelsea began their campaign in this year’s FIFA Club World Cup with a pristine victory, beating Los Angeles FC in their first Group D game on the second matchday.
The Blues secured their goals in both halves — the first scored by Pedro Neto, assisted by Nicolas Jackson, and the second by Enzo Fernández, assisted by Chelsea’s new frontman, Liam Delap, who was introduced in the 64th minute.
Flamengo tops the group with the same points and goal difference as Chelsea, while Los Angeles FC and Espérance de Tunis sit at the bottom.
Enzo Maresca was full of praise for his players during a post-match interview with Chelsea media:
“What’s important is the behaviour of the players, the attitude, and once again today, they showed how professional they are and the desire they have, because it was important to win today and also not to concede a goal.
We finished the Premier League season and the Conference League very strong defensively, without conceding many goals. Today we continued that, and we want to stay with this attitude.”