Chelsea 5-0 Wrexham: Blues thrash Welsh side to open Mauricio Pochettino era

Chelsea kicked off their pre-season preparations with a 5-0 victory against League Two side Wrexham in the United States.

Mauricio Pochettino's first game in charge of the Blues went according to plan, opting to field plenty of young players against the near-full strength Red Dragons.

Wrexham fell behind with only three minutes on the clock. New Chelsea signing Nicolas Jackson drifted through the 18-yard box with the ball glued to his feet before squaring for Ian Maatsen, who started on the wing as opposed to left-back, to tap home.

Phil Parkinson's men made spirited attempts to find an equaliser and advanced the ball well into the final third, but were sorely lacking in end product - Elliot Lee's speculative overhead kick was the closest Wrexham went to levelling.

Chelsea found their second goal of the evening just before the interval. Maatsen again drifted infield and played a neat one-two with Carney Chukwuemeka before firing in at the near post from the edge of the area.

After the break, crosses from Paul Mullin and then Ryan Barnett were just begging for a Wrexham player to tap them in, but twice the Red Dragons failed to pack the box appropriately and Chelsea survived.

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Raheem Sterling headed over a cross from point-blank range late on before Chelsea rounded off the evening with three further goals. Conor Gallagher was first to get on the scoresheet in the second half, with his trickling effort still too hot for goalkeeper Rob Lainton to handle.

Christopher Nkunku then got his first goal in Chelsea colours, racing in beyond the backline and rounding Lainton to slot into an empty net.

Deep into stoppage time, Ben Chilwell got in on the act, dinking Lainton after darting in from the left channel.

Chelsea's next friendly comes against Brighton this weekend, while Wrexham will face Manchester United in six days' time.

Lineups

Chelsea XI: Cumming; Gusto, Chalobah, Humphreys, Cucurella; Casadei, Santos; Moreira, Chukwuemeka, Maatsen; Jackson

Chelsea substitutes: Chilwell (46'), Gilchrist (46'), Gallagher (46'), Sterling (46'), Gabriel (46'), Nkunku (46'), Hall (63'), Bergstrom (76')

Wrexham XI: Foster; O'Connor, Tozer, O'Connell; Forde, Jones, Lee, Cannon, Mendy; Dalby, Mullin

Wrexham substitutes: Lainton (46'), McFadzean (46'), Hayden (46'), Boyle (46'), Barnett (46'), McAlinden (62'), Cleworth (62'), Davies (62'), Young (62'), Palmer (62'), Waters (62')

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