Chelsea Beat Club America In Preseason Opener

Despite having a fantastic match-winner in Mason Mount, Chelsea had trouble shaking off the rust in their first preseason game.

The Blues faced tough competition in Las Vegas from the Mexican team Club America, and Thomas Tuchel's sluggish men struggled to even thread together a few passes in the early going.

They eventually put their affairs in order. After Tuchel switched his whole starting lineup at halftime, Timo Werner scored the game's first goal 10 minutes into the second half.

Even so, Reece James' harmless-looking backpass embarrassed everyone as it somehow snuck past Marcus Bettinelli and into his own goal.

Late on, however, Mount would spare the defender's face with a lavish curled finish into the far corner after eluding tackles on the edge of the box.

When selecting his starting lineup, Tuchel considered which players had returned to training the earliest following the June internationals.

Thiago Silva served as the team's captain, flanked by Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr. Conor Gallagher partnered the similarly forgotten Ross Barkley in midfield, and Kenedy played the position of wing-back.

For summer signings Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly, who will play later in the preseason schedule, the game was too soon.

In spite of the roof being gratefully closed in the spectacular Allegiant Stadium's 40C heat, Chelsea struggled to generate much offense in the first half.

A low free shot from just outside the area by Hakim Ziyech was deflected away by Club America's 37-year-old experienced goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.

To be fair to Chelsea, their opponents had previously played three games in the Mexican league, and their better conditioning was evident.

Kenedy did miss the far post with a shot, and then Kai Havertz missed with a shot. When Thiago Silva touched a Ziyech inswinging free kick, Oscar Jimenez, the replacement goalie, made a save.

However, James put a lot of effort into trying to make amends by making a good connection with Mount down the flank. Chelsea moved up to the Club America box through a sequence of passes between the two, but little came of it.

However, the Chelsea defender did play a cross-field pass to Marcos Alonso, who picked it up and passed it to Mount on the outskirts of the box.

The English midfielder controlled the ball before attempting to score from the edge of the box. Safe to say he was successful and it was a stunning finish.

The match ended with Chelsea eventually scoring two goals and Club America with only a goal.

Here are some images from the match: