John Terry watched Chelsea U21 beat Manchester City 3-1 in their Premier League 2 opening fixture.
Shem Mheuka was the standout player, scoring a hat-trick.
Chelsea almost struck early when midfielder Ollie Harrison clipped a ball over the top to Leo Cardoso.
He ran into the penalty area to fire a shot, which rolled wide of the far post.
Man City responded with Ashton Muir trying his luck from distance, but his effort did not trouble goalkeeper Ted Curd.
Mheuka had his first sight of goal, forcing Jack Stint to make a save from his decisive strike. Moments later, the Cityzens goalkeeper also denied Cardoso from opening the scoring.
Chelsea’s biggest chance fell to Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, whose effort looked goal-bound, but Stint made an incredible save to deny him.
They eventually opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time, when Cardoso delivered a superb cross for Mheuka to head the ball over the goalkeeper.
The Blues came out flying after the restart and doubled their advantage in the 47th minute as Mheuka rose above his marker to head Genesis Antwi’s pinpoint cross home.
New signing Jesse Derry replaced Kavuma-McQueen to make his Chelsea debut around the hour mark.
Shortly after, Dujuan Richards made his first appearance in the league after recovering from a long-term injury.
The defending champions halved the deficit in the 78th minute when Jaden Samuel struck the ball home from a tight angle.
Mheuka sealed the victory for Calum McFarlane’s side, showing strength and composure to convert Harrison Murray-Campbell’s long pass.
Chelsea will return to action when they face Newcastle United on Friday.
