Chelsea FC have won for the first time in this year’s summer preparations: The Blues beat Mexican club CF America 3-0 in Atlanta as part of their trip to the USA
Enzo Maresca’s first two games as the new Chelsea coach had been very different, but after a 2-2 draw with Welsh side Wrexham and a 4-1 loss to Scottish giants Celtic Glasgow, the Italian celebrated his first win on Thursday night.
New summer signing Dewsbury-Hall made his starting debut in the 3-0 win over CF America, and keeper Jörgensen (brought in from Villarreal for just under 25 million euros) also made his first appearance in the Chelsea goal in the second 45 minutes. The early lead, however, was provided by Nkunku, who is showing his early form in the summer preparations: After scoring a goal each against Wrexham and Celtic, the former Leipzig man also opened the scoring against CF America – with a penalty after three minutes, which he coolly slotted into the middle.
Chelsea continued to dominate the game after that and were finally on their way to victory after 21 minutes: Dewsbury-Hall was sent to the baseline on the left, where the talented striker Guiu, who had been brought in from FC Barcelona, headed in with ice-cold precision. It was the 18-year-old’s first goal in his third consecutive appearance in the starting eleven.
Dilrosun hits the crossbar
The favorites were then too careless with their chances, exemplified by a missed double chance from Sterling and Gusto. The Mexicans’ best chance was missed by former Hertha player Dilrosun, who only hit the crossbar with his powerful left-foot shot.
After the break, it was again Nkunku who set the tone. Keeper Cota could only stop the Frenchman with a foul and Madueke slotted the resulting penalty into the top left-hand corner to make it 3:0 (79′).
Nkunku, who had been a recurring absentee last season, was briefly a worry as he limped off at the final whistle. But Maresca quickly gave the all-clear: “Malo Gusto, Benoit Badiashile and Christopher Nkunku only had cramps. “
All in all, the Italian was delighted with his first win as Blues coach. “From my personal point of view, we have steadily improved in the games from Wrexham to Celtic to today – and that’s the most important thing,” said the 44-year-old.