FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED from Chelsea’s pre-season win over Club America 

Chelsea didn’t make it easy for themselves but they walked away with a 2-1 win from their pre-season friendly with Club America. 

Timo Werner opened the scoring for the Blues before Reece James scored an own goal. However, Mason Mount came to save the day by scoring the winner.  

Here, Sportsmail’s Mike Keegan looks at five things we learned from the encounter.

COMEDY NIGHT IN VEGAS

If you’re going to make a blooper then it’s best to do it in a meaningless pre-season friendly thousands of miles from home. With Chelsea 1-0 up and cruising Reece James had plenty of time and no pressure. He passed the ball back to where he thought third-string stopper Marcus Bettinelli would be, only he wasn’t. The ball rolled into an empty goal to ridiculously restore parity. Oops.

RAHEEM NOT SEEN

Those hoping they would get a sneak peak of Chelsea’s marquee £47.5m man were left disappointed when he was not included in the squad. Manager Thomas Tuchel had said that the game would come too early for Sterling, stating that the former Manchester City star was on an ‘individual programme’, with the rest of the squad ‘two weeks ahead of him’. 

Those hoping they would get a sneak peak of Chelsea’s marquee £47.5m man were left disappointed when he was not included in the squad

Fellow new boy Kalidou Koulibaly was another no-show. The £43m arrival from Napoli only arrived on Friday and may be another to make his bow on the next stop in Charlotte this week.

BATSHUAYI LACKS KILLER TOUCH

The Belgian has flattered to deceive since joining Chelsea all the way back in 2016 and, in a wasteful 45 minutes here, showed little sign of changing his ways. A one-on-one out wide was the worst miss of a series of scorable chances. He continuously gets into great positions and his movement is good, but the most important part is lacking.

The Belgian has flattered to deceive since joining Chelsea all the way back in 2016 and, in a wasteful 45 minutes here, showed little sign of changing his ways

CHELSEA, NEVADA

Chelsea’s new owners believe the club has vast, global potential which is yet to be fully exploited. By the looks of things at the Allegiant Stadium, they have a point, Despite the relative proximity of Mexico, there were as many blue shirts as those in the yellow of Club America. 

The nearby Luxor Hotel (the one that looks like a pyramid) was awash with Chelsea jerseys, many with names such as ‘Iowa Blues’ on the back while a walk down the strip played out to a soundtrack of London accents. That said, organisers may well have been hoping for bigger numbers at what looked a half-full 65,000-capacity venue.

WHO NEEDS RAPHINHA?

Thomas Tuchel was keen on deploying the Leeds United target at right wing-back, but Kenedy offered glimpses of a solution here. The Brazilian zipped up and down the line, defended well and brought a physical presence to the right hand side. He was unlucky to give Chelsea the lead and it will be fascinating to see if the German continues the experiment in Charlotte. While Reece James will be first choice, perhaps there is a new option behind him.

Thomas Tuchel was keen on deploying the Leeds United target at right wing-back, but Kenedy offered glimpses of a solution here

ALLEGIANT STADIUM – WOW

The venue of the 2024 Super Bowl is close to marking its second-year in existence but looks like something from the future. Behind one end, huge glass panels allow fans to see the traffic flying down Interstate 15. Given how boring this match was, it was a very welcome addition. Those who have the money to do so took in the match from outdoor suites behind the goal which featured sofas and booths – handy for a 90-minute sleep.