Own goal decides: Chelsea struggles against Palmeiras into the semi-finals

Chelsea FC advanced to the semifinals of the Club World Cup against Palmeiras. IMAGO/Sportimage

In the round of 16, both teams had to take the detour via extra time to ultimately reach the last eight. While Palmeiras prevailed 1-0 against Botafogo , Chelsea scored three goals in the extra 30 minutes of their 4-1 victory against Benfica .

There was once again no place in the starting lineup for Palmeiras' substitute goalscorer Paulinho, instead Micael and Vanderlan started for the suspended Gomez and Piquerez, and Torres instead of Mauricio (bench).

Blues coach Enzo Maresca, for his part, was forced to make three substitutions, with Chalobah, Gusto, and Nknunku replacing Badiashile, Lavia (both injured), and Caicedo (suspended). Captain James also sustained an injury during warm-up, prompting Andrey Santos to make his Club World Cup debut.

The intensity in Philadelphia was high early on, with the first notable attempt on goal coming from England. Palmer tried twice from distance, but lacked the necessary precision (5').

The key word here is "yet," because a short time later, Palmer finally struck. Following a vertical pass from Chalobah, the 23-year-old turned, made his way along the edge of the penalty area, and fired a precise shot into the left corner. Palmeiras goalkeeper Weverton stretched in vain to save the precise low shot (16').

The remainder of the first half could hardly be described as a festival of chances, as the Blues largely failed to get beyond harmless approaches to goal during their attacks. Shortly before the break, Palmeiras also presented their first promising attack, but Vanderlan failed to put the ball in the net (42').

Since there was little to see of 18-year-old Brazilian hopeful Estevao Willian, who will officially join Chelsea after the tournament, the favorites went into the dressing rooms with a well-deserved 1-0 lead at halftime.

The Blues were only able to carry their dominance from the first half into the second half to a limited extent – ​​and suddenly the score was 1-1. With an assist from Richard, soon-to-be Chelsea player Estevao Willian equalized, beating Sanchez from a tight angle with the help of the crossbar (53').

Inspired by this goal, the Brazilians began to offer the English a solid fightback, and the duel increasingly developed into a match on equal terms. Promising attacking moves, however, were in short supply on both sides during this phase.

Regular time was drawing to a close, and extra time was approaching. But in the 83rd minute, Chelsea had another chance – and a fair amount of luck. Following a short corner, Giay deflected Gusto's low cross, throwing goalkeeper Weverton off guard so badly that he could only punch the ball into his own net.

stadium

Lincoln Financial Field