Mauricio Pochettino made the perfect start to life as Chelsea manager after a late goal burst secured an emphatic 5-0 rout of Wrexham in his first game in charge, with Christopher Nkunku among the scorers on debut.
Ian Maatsen was the initial unlikely hero in the opening friendly of the club’s US pre-season tour in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Wednesday night, netting at either end of the first half as he starred for a surprisingly youthful starting XI named by Pochettino to face the National League champions with an average of just 19.
Maatsen’s first goal, a low effort swept past the helpless Ben Foster, came after only three minutes and via a tidy assist from Chelsea debutant Nicolas Jackson, a £31million recent signing from LaLiga side Villarreal.
His second was equally as composed a finish from just inside the box, teed up by a brilliant one-two with Carney Chukwuemeka.
Chelsea should have made it 3-0 20 minutes from time when Raheem Sterling somehow nodded over an enticing back-post cross from another of their debutants in Brazilian winger Angelo Gabriel, the newest acquistion from Santos.
But they turned on the style late on, Conor Gallagher squeezing a low shot home from the edge of the area after a mazy run from Sterling and French forward Nkunku, Chelsea’s headline summer signing so far at £53m from RB Leipzig, rounding Foster’s replacement Rob Lainton and slotting in having been picked out by the impressive Cesare Casadei.
Dominant Chelsea made it five against the League Two newcomers - whose Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney were not in attendance at Kenan Memorial Stadium - with the last action of a one-sided encounter as Gabriel split the tired Wrexham defence with a pinpoint ball that was collected and scooped in with aplomb by Ben Chilwell.
