Half of the Club World Cup final is set as Chelsea defeated Fluminense with Joao Pedro scoring his first goals for the Blues against his boyhood club en route to a 2-0 victory Tuesday at MetLife Stadium. The new Chelsea forward already showed why he was an immediate addition to this squad after joining from Brighton as he finished withpe both goals while making his first start in place of the suspended Liam Delap. Becoming the 10th goal scorer for the Blues in this tournament, Joao Pedro is helping give coach Enzo Maresca a good problem of figuring out who will start at striker in the final.
Joao Pedro makes his mark for Chelsea at Club World Cup as Blues’ attacking musical chairs continues
Pardeep Cattry
Chelsea were able to withstand everything that Fluminense threw at them, and a large reason for that was that Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez were excellent in midfield. Their awareness meant that the Blues closed down any Fluminense attack before it could develop, while Fernandez’s passing kept quick transitions moving forward. The Argentine was able to get an assist on the Brazilian’s second goal, which was an important one to provide Chelsea with breathing room.
Things got frantic at the end of the first half of play with Marc Cucurella clearing a chance off the line before the Blues almost gave away the lead before the break. Trevoh Chalobah conceded a penalty due to a handball, but after a VAR review, it was waved away. In the Club World Cup, the interpretation of the handball rule is different than club soccer, allowing Chalobah to get off the hook due to his arms being in a natural position.
With an additional lifeline, the Blues wouldn’t miss a chance to close the game out. With the depth available to them, Maresca has managed this tournament well and now will see his Blues in the final for the first time since they won the Club World Cup in 2021, defeating Palmeiras, albeit in a much smaller format than this year. Already winning the Conference League this season, Chelsea are now 90 minutes away from more silverware.
On July 13, they’ll face either Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid in the final. With the Blues returning to the Champions League this coming season, it will be an excellent test to see how they can hold up against Europe’s elite, but no matter what, this tournament has been a showing that they can be proud of before starting the offseason.
