That will do for starters. Chelsea were far from perfect, even shaky at times during the first half, but they improved as the game progressed and made off with maximum points from their first league match under Maurizio Sarri. N’Golo Kanté, Jorginho and Pedro scored and the visitors could have added more goals but Huddersfield had their moments, too, and there were times when Sarri seemed to chew particularly hard on the item he had in his mouth throughout the match, which looked suspiciously like a cigarette filter.

“If you look at the result you think about an easy game but in the first half we were in trouble against a very physical team,” admitted Sarri. “The best part was we showed our capacity to suffer. Then in the second half the opponents were a bit tired and it was easier.”

The last match between these teams concluded with Huddersfield celebrating rapturously, as May’s 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge confirmed they would compete in the Premier League again this season. Survival is their primary aim again and this was a reminder that the challenge remains formidable. They played well but were well beaten. Yet there were moments when another upset seemed feasible. “If you want to create a sensation you need the small margins to go for you but they did not,” said the manager, David Wagner.

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The goalkeeping debutants highlighted the difference in the way these clubs operate. Ben Hamer made his first appearance for Huddersfield following his free transfer from Leicester City while Chelsea gave an immediate start to Kepa Arrizabalaga after this week’s world record £71.6m move from Athletic Bilbao. The visitors also gave a Premier League debut to Jorginho, who struggled during last Sunday’s Community Shield after joining from Napoli for £50m. That is more than Huddersfield’s total outlay on eight summer signings. And, of course, Chelsea had a recently crowned world champion in their ranks, though few would have foreseen Kanté opening the scoring. Yet that is what the Frenchman did, finding the net in the 34th minute to claim his first goal in nearly a year.

Perhaps Sarri did envisage that. The manager assigned Kanté a slightly more advanced role than he has filled in previous seasons, appointing Jorginho as the deep scavenger in Chelsea’s midfield trio and allowing Kanté to probe down the right, often combining with Pedro. The breakthrough goal came, however, after a period in which Chelsea’s midfield had been overrun by their more dynamic hosts.

Huddersfield had also made regular incursions down the flanks, as Florent Hadergjonaj and Chris Löwe exposed Chelsea’s back four, with Marcos Alonso in particular difficulty.

The visitors were lucky not to concede a penalty when David Luiz handled after trying to use Alex Pritchard as a springboard as he leapt for a header. The referee decided the Chelsea defender had been fouled, a decision he might have reversed with the benefit of VAR.

Up until then Arrizabalaga had been the busier of the two keepers, slashing at a couple of attempted clearances and making a routine stop from a shot by Pritchard. Despite their spluttering, Chelsea took the lead 10 minutes before the break.

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The move that created the opportunity was slick even if Kanté’s finish was scruffy. Jorginho began it in midfield before Pedro fed Willian, who skittered down the left before crossing. Kanté mishit a volley from nine yards, perplexing the keeper and sending the ball bouncing into the bottomcorner.

Huddersfield almost equalised within two minutes but Steve Mounié’s terrificheader rebounded out off the inside of the post – small margins.

Chelsea struck again just before the interval thanks to their best move of the half. Jorginho and Barkley combined on the edge of the area to slip the ball through to Alonso, who had made a burst into the box. Christopher Schindler tried to poke the ball off the left-back’s foot as he shot but the referee judged that he caught the player. Jorginho ignored the boos to convert the penalty with outrageous audacity, duping Hamer with a delicious feint before rolling the ball into the net.

For the second half Wagner introduced Laurent Depoitre, who scored against Chelsea in both matches last season. But the visitors had found a groove and never looked like losing their lead. Antonio Rüdiger tried to increase it but Hamer pushed away his header from a corner. Two minutes later another header by Rüdiger was going wide until Alonso hooked it against the bar. Alonso threatened again from a long-range free-kick, missing by a couple of yards. Sarri’s side were not quite dominant but were definitely the more dangerous, and there was no need for the manager to disrupt Eden Hazard’s rest on the bench until the 76th minute.

That was in response to a spurt by Huddersfield, for whom Mounié went close with another header. It took less than five minutes for Hazard to make an impact. After receiving the ball he skedaddled forward and flipped it through to Pedro, who finished with a neat dink over the advancing Hamer.