Jose Mourinho made a winning return to life as Chelsea manager with a comfortable 2-0 win over English Premier League newcomers Hull City, while Roberto Soldado's debut goal was enough for Tottenham to eke out a narrow 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
While the home fans at Stamford Bridge sang songs on Mourinho all evening long, the players on the pitch also showed some class with a brilliant first half performance pretty much killing the game off.
After a bright start, it came as no surprise when Chelsea took the lead in the 13th minute. Eden Hazard cut in from the left wing before laying the ball off to Kevin De Bruyne just outside the penalty box. The little Belgian, who has been impressive in preseason, then played a cute little through ball to Oscar, who made no mistake with the finish.
Just before the goal, Chelsea had a golden chance to take a lead when Hull goalkeeper Alan McGregror clashed with Fernando Torres inside the box, leading to referee John Moss pointing to the spot.
Frank Lampard, Chelsea's record goalscorer, though, surprisingly failed to get the ball past McGregor as Hull breathed easy for a few more minutes.
However, Lampard would atone for his miss in the 25th minute and in some style too. The England midfielder smashed a perfect 35-yard freekick into the top corner to make it 2-0 and pretty much seal the opening game of the season for Chelsea.
Hull were a much better side in the second half, but with Chelsea taking the foot off the pedal a little, the game petered out as the Blues went with all three points and Hull with hopes that they can indeed make a fist of remaining in the Premier League this season.
"There is no doubt we deserved the victory," Mourinho told Sky Sports. "It was a brilliant first half with high intensity, high quality, great movement, great football.
"With the first half, it is no surprise that the second half could not be the same because the first was outstanding.
"The intensity of our game went down because our pre-season was not an easy one and this week most of our players were involved with their international teams.
"The game was always under control, but in the second half the quality of our game went down a bit. I am happy with the victory and I am happy because what we did in the first half was good.
"Our creative players had very good understanding, very good movement and I think the football was brilliant. If we had been 3-0 or 4-0 ahead at half-time it would not be surprising."
In the earlier game, Soldado slotted in a penalty in the 50th minute to ensure a victory for Tottenham against a dogged Palace side who tried to break through Spurs' defence, but fell a little short.
