Chelsea off to a flying start at the FIFA Club World Cup

(Dan Tri) - Chelsea started the FIFA Club World Cup campaign smoothly, winning all three points with a 2-0 victory over Los Angeles FC (LAFC) in the first round of Group D on June 17.

With the superior position, Chelsea quickly imposed the game. LAFC were pushed back into their own half, and the blue team continuously put pressure on their opponents. The first notable opportunity belonged to Noni Madueke with a tricky left-foot shot, but could not beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Despite dominating the ball, Chelsea players had difficulty penetrating the opponent's defense, demonstrated by Cole Palmer's inaccurate long-range shot from 30 meters.

Delap made his Chelsea debut at the Club World Cup (Photo: Getty).

However, with superior class, Chelsea finally found the opening goal. In the 34th minute, Pedro Neto cleverly escaped, eliminated an LAFC defender before firing a dangerous cross-angle shot, beating Lloris, to put Chelsea 1-0 up. In the second half, LAFC made a substitution when David Martínez was brought on and almost immediately created danger with a shot from the edge of the box, unfortunately the ball went wide of the post.

However, LAFC's efforts were quickly extinguished. Nicolas Jackson had a chance to double Chelsea's lead with a close-range header, but Timothy Tillman made a fantastic save on the goal line. Shortly after, LAFC's Denis Bouanga made a similar move to Neto's opener, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez at the near post.

LAFC paid the price for their missed opportunities. Chelsea sealed a 2-0 victory in the 80th minute. New signing Liam Delap made an impressive debut with a precise cross into the box, allowing Enzo Fernandez to finish neatly into the corner of the net to increase the gap.

Fernandez celebrates with teammates after scoring (Photo: Getty).

The final minutes saw more chances for both teams. Martinez tried his luck again with a dangerous shot, but was still unable to beat Sanchez. Neto almost had a brace when his final shot hit the crossbar. With this convincing victory, Chelsea confirmed their position as the leading contenders for the top spot in Group D. In the next round, Chelsea will face a big challenge from Flamengo, while Steve Cherundolo's LAFC will face Esperance de Tunis.

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Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chelsea-khoi-dau-thuan-loi-tai-fifa-club-world-cup-20250617065354294.htm