Chelsea proved their position as Europe’s champions with a comfortable win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.
With fans back at Stamford Bridge, the air was electric when academy product Trevoh Chalobah netted home the third on his Premier League debut.
Marcos Alonso opened the scoring with a free kick from 22 yards at the 27th minute.
Christian Pulisic then blasted in a second via the underside of the bar after Vicente Guaita spilled Mason Mount’s cross.
And Chalobah, who joined Chelsea’s youth set-up 14 years ago, drove home from distance to seal the win.
Crystal Palace improved after the break, but had only one shot on target.
Much is expected of the champions of Europe this season, especially with the re-signing of Beligian talisman- Romelu Lukaku, who could not play against palace because he is still in quarantine.
The elite team also missed influential midfielder N’Golo Kante and Hakim Ziyech who were injured in the match against Villarreal on Wednesday.
England left-back Ben Chilwell, experienced centre-back Thiago Silva and Kai Havertz, who scored the winner in the Champions League final, were left on the bench.
Ex-Blues midfielder Joe Cole said during the week that every decision Tuchel makes seems to pay off.
And it felt that way when Alonso, who started instead of Chilwell at left wing-back, curled in a perfect free-kick to give them a deserved lead. Palace offered so little threat that he basically played as an orthodox winger.
Pulisic then continued his fine form against Palace with a close-range finish after Guaita spilled a cross. Five of the American’s 13 Premier League goals have come against the Eagles.
They had plenty of chances to score more with Timo Werner’s first touch letting him down on a couple of occasions and Alonso forcing a good save from Guaita.
But the best moment of the game came when 22-year-old Chalobah, who made his Chelsea debut in Belfast three days ago, picked the ball up in space and drilled home via the inside of the post.
There were plenty of cheers too when Champions League hero Havertz came on – the first time he, or many of this Blues squad, have played at a full Stamford Bridge.
