Chelsea booked 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 headed into this game looking to avoid a second defeat at the hands of Brazilian opposition at the CWC. Enzo Maresca’s side went 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 got down to palm the ball away. Palmer did get 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.
The Blues dominated as the first half went on, with Palmeiras surviving wave after wave of Chelsea attacks, the best of which arrived when Palmer found Christopher Nkunku, who got underneath the ball and sent his effort well over when in space inside the penalty area. Verdão had a brilliant opportunity to bring 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.