Unlike the scenes we saw over the weekend, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium was considerably empty for the match between Chelsea and Los Angeles FC. Despite playing in the United States, the second MLS side to take to the field came away with a 2-0 defeat, this time in Group D.
The teams seemed to have felt the pre-season atmosphere with an empty stadium during the opening minutes where there was little intensity despite the attacking proposals with attempts at speed on both sides. Naturally, the Blues took control of the attack for the rest of the first half, but their slowness to open up spaces in defense and exchange passes on the right was particularly noticeable due to Pedro Neto's poor performance.
It was only as time ran out in the first half that we saw Chelsea making more of a nuisance of themselves with possession, stepping up their attacking play, and the goal naturally came from the right with Nicolas Jackson finding a space to set up Pedro Neto, who set off at speed, leaving his marker on the ground with a precise cut to tap into the goal.
Los Angeles FC improved in the second half and threatened Chelsea
After scoring just once in the first half, Los Angeles FC turned to Giroud to find the net, while Chelsea brought on Enzo Fernández and Malo Gusto. Both teams made the game more open with greater intensity, but it was the Americans who really threatened with shots from Denis Bouanga and David Martínez from outside the penalty area.
Chelsea tried to get back into the game with Pedro Neto's runs, but LAFC gained more confidence and built on their momentum by increasing their output and creating extreme danger. However, the quality of the squad made a big difference and Enzo Maresca had to rely on Liam Delap to confirm the victory, thanks to a precise assist for Enzo Fernández to score the winning goal for just over 20,000 fans in the stadium.