Chelsea narrowly reached the semi-finals of the Club World Cup on Friday night in Philadelphia. The Londoners defeated Palmeiras 2-1 thanks to a late own goal.
Chelsea had a flying start at the Lincoln Financial Field stadium. After fifteen minutes, Cole Palmer opened the scoring with a beautiful goal. After cutting inside his opponent, he scored his first goal of the tournament.
After the break, Palmeiras fought their way back into the game. Estêvão Willian scored from a difficult angle to tie the game at 1-1. Estêvão will move to Chelsea after the Club World Cup and moments later, he seemed to cause his future club pain, but his shot from inside the box went wide.
Palmeiras was the better team in the final phase, but fell behind in an unlucky way in the 83rd minute. A cross from Chelsea defender Malo Gusto was turned into his own goal by keeper Weverton, putting Enzo Maresca’s team in the semi-finals.
Chelsea will play Fluminense in New York on Tuesday for a place in the final. The Brazilian club reached the semi-finals at the expense of Al Hilal. The other quarter-finals are Paris Saint-Germain-Bayern Munich and Real Madrid-Borussia Dortmund.