Chelsea’s courageous 2-1 victory in Philadelphia put a stop to Palmeiras’ four-game unbeaten streak in the Club World Cup, earning them a semi-final spot. The London team came out strong from the beginning, hoping to avoid suffering a second loss against Brazilian opponents in the competition.
The most impressive player was Cole Palmer, who came close to scoring in the first few minutes before eventually scoring in the sixteenth. The England international calmly tapped into the bottom corner to give the Blues the lead after making a beautiful first touch inside the box. The first half was dominated by Chelsea, who created multiple chances, most notably Christopher Nkunku, who missed a clean one.
Just before halftime, Palmeiras came close to equalizing, but Robert Sánchez made an incredible save to stop Vanderlan’s header.
The game changed after the break.
Ironically, Estêvão, the youth from Palmeiras who will play for Chelsea the following season, equalized the score with a powerful shot that bounced in after bouncing against the underside of the bar. Allan came close with a shot that went just wide, and Palmeiras almost altered the tide of the match.
However, Chelsea won in the end. Bruno Fuchs was heavily deflected by a cross from Malo Gusto, which totally wrong-footed Weverton and bobbed across the line for the game-winning goal.
In their game on Friday night (West African Time), Fluminense defeated Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia 2-1, with Hercules, scoring the game-winning goal in the 70th minute, sealing a place in the semi-finals for the team.
Before both games, a moment of silence was held in memory of Diogo Jota, a forward for Liverpool and Portugal, and his younger brother Andre Silva, who passed away in a horrific automobile accident in Spain.
Jota’s Portugal national team teammates, Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo of Al Hilal, played in the match and took part in the memorial.
