PHILADELPHIA — It is by no means straightforward to make sense of Chelsea, a membership that does not do “regular,” so why ought to or not it’s any totally different once they seal a spot within the FIFA Club World Cup semifinals with an personal aim by a Palmeiras participant and their new wonderkid Estêvão scoring in opposition to them?
Chelsea’s 2-1 win in opposition to Palmeiras, which earned them £15 million in prize cash, additionally occurred to come back on the day that the Premier League workforce was hit with a £27 million fine by UEFA for breaching monetary rules. If Enzo Maresca’s facet beats Fluminense in Tuesday’s semifinal in East Rutherford, New Jersey, it can financial institution one other £21.8 million and wipe out the UEFA sanction earlier than the ink has even dried on the rap sheet.
Chelsea will go into their last-four encounter as sturdy favorites even with out middle ahead Liam Delap and defender Levi Colwill, who each picked up yellow playing cards in opposition to Palmeiras that imply they are going to be suspended for the following recreation. Midfielder Moisés Caicedo will return from suspension, and new signing Joao Pedro, who made his debut in Philadelphia in its place simply three days after finishing a switch from Brighton price an preliminary £50 million, will change Delap.
That is the way it works at Chelsea — they’ve so many gamers that no damage or suspension appears to make a distinction, as a result of the carousel simply turns and one other participant steps off to fill the void.
Estêvão would be the subsequent one to affix Maresca’s ever-growing squad. The 18-year-old accomplished a £33.8 million switch from Palmeiras in June 2024, however aged simply 17 on the time, was too younger to make the transfer on to Stamford Bridge, so he remained in Brazil to proceed his improvement with Palmeiras. Chelsea might have known as Estêvão into their squad for this event this month, however they as an alternative determined to permit {the teenager} to stay with Palmeiras and assess his readiness for Maresca’s squad by monitoring his performances within the competitors.
There was at all times an opportunity the 2 golf equipment would meet and pose a troublesome situation for the participant, however in what turned out to be his ultimate recreation for the Sao Paulo workforce earlier than heading to Chelsea, Estêvão dazzled and scored a surprising aim that can vastly excite his new membership’s supporters. With Chelsea main 1-0 after a first-half Cole Palmer aim, Palmeiras struggled to land a blow on the English workforce till Estêvão raced onto a ball into the penalty space and beat Colwill to it earlier than scoring with a right-footed strike that went in off the underside of the crossbar. It was a aim that showcased audacity, confidence and supreme ability, and it sparked Palmeiras right into a interval that might, and perhaps ought to, have delivered a second aim to place them into the lead.
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Estêvão was a part of that revival, tormenting the Chelsea again line together with his blistering tempo and linking nicely with spectacular No. 9 Vitor Roque. However the Brazilian workforce was unable to make its dominance pay, and Chelsea fortuitously regained the lead on 83 minutes when Malo Gusto‘s cross was diverted into the web after two deflections, off Giay Agustin and goalkeeper Weverton. It was a aim price £15 million in prize cash, so it in all probability deserved to be just a little extra spectacular, however Chelsea will not thoughts the way it went in as a result of it secured a spot within the semis.
How Chelsea have made it this far is all the way down to luck quite than good planning. Maresca’s workforce was mediocre throughout the group stage, when it was comfortably overwhelmed by Flamengo, however reached the quarterfinal after a farcical round-of-16 tie in opposition to Benfica in Charlotte that was hit by a two-hour climate delay and noticed the Portuguese facet create probabilities to win the sport. However regardless of all of it, together with the off-field noise that always accompanies the membership, Chelsea have made it to the semis, and they’re going to face arguably the weakest of the 4 Brazilian groups — Botafogo being the opposite in rivalry — in Fluminense, who overcame Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal within the quarterfinals.
Lower than two months in the past, Chelsea had been going through a failure to qualify for the Champions League and the prospect of their £1 billion spending spree amounting to little greater than a Convention League success. However unexpectedly, they’re 90 minutes away from the Membership World Cup ultimate, having already bagged Champions League qualification and the Convention League.
Simply do not attempt to make sense of all of it, as a result of that is Chelsea, and chaos appears to be the driving drive behind the membership and Maresca’s workforce.