Chelsea reserved their place in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) with a 2-1 victory over Palmeiras in Philadelphia, ending the Brazilian side's unbeaten run at the competition after four matches (W2, D2).
Chelsea led into this game looking to escape a second beat at the hands of Brazilian opposition at the CWC.
Enzo Maresca’s side moved close to breaking the deadlock inside the opening four minutes, when Cole Palmer looked to beat Weverton with a curling effort from outside the penalty area, but the Brazilian stopper obtained down to palm the ball away.
Palmer did obtain his name on the scoresheet with 16 minutes on the clock, though, as he kept his cool to slot the ball into the bottom-left corner from just inside the penalty area after a delightful first touch.
Final match statsOpta by StatsPerformThe Blues dominated as the first half moved on, with Palmeiras surviving wave after wave of Chelsea attacks, the best of which reached when Palmer establish Christopher Nkunku, who obtained underneath the ball and sent his effort well over when in space inside the penalty area.
Verdao possessed a brilliant opportunity to hand over themselves level on the stroke of HT, but Vanderlan saw his header towards the top-left corner kept out by a sublime save from Robert Sánchez.
Palmeiras started the second half in a much better fashion and possessed their reward shortly after HT.
Ironically, it was Chelsea-tied teenager Estevao who establish the support of the net with a stunning strike, drilling his emphatic effort in off the obstruct past a rooted Sanchez.
Match momentumOpta by StatsPerformVerdao continued to expand into the game and moved close to taking the lead with just over an hour played, as Allan’s strike across goal trickled agonisingly wide of the left post.
The tension expanded as the contest moved toward its closing stages, but Chelsea managed to obtain a rather fortunate winner with seven minutes left to play.
The goal came after Malo Gusto’s cross wrong-footed Weverton following a Bruno Fuchs deflection, meaning the keeper could only watch on as the ball bobbled over the goalline.
Weverton was on hand to push a late Noni Madueke strike onto the post, but ultimately, it made little difference as Chelsea secured their place in the semi-finals, where they will confront yet another Brazilian side in Fluminense.
Betopick Man of the Match: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)See all of the stats for the match on Betopick.
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