A cool, calm and composed Cole Palmer produced a scintillating footballing masterclass as Chelsea demolished a flat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 to win a one-sided FIFA Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Monday morning.
Chelsea’s star midfielder scored twice and provided an assist for Joao Pedro in a devastating display in the revamped tournament’s decider that left the European and French champions, who finished with 10 men, shell-shocked.
Having already claimed a historic treble, which included their first-ever Champions Trophy win, apart from clinching Ligue 1 and Coupe de France titles, PSG were the heavy favourites to win the title. Chelsea, on the other hand, arrived in the U.S. after winning Europe’s third-tier Conference League and on the back of a domestic campaign in which they just managed a top-four Premier League finish.
The Parisian team decimated Inter Miami 4-0, Bayern Munich 2-1 and Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-finals.
Prior to the match, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said he was expecting a “game of chess” against PSG coach Luis Enrique, but what transpired was a swift checkmate for the Italian, who delivered a tactical masterclass.
Chelsea, who won the 2021 Club World Cup in its previous format, struck first in the 22nd minute when PSG fullback Nuno Mendes gifted possession to Malo Gusto. While his initial effort was blocked by Mendes, Gusto collected the rebound and found Palmer unmarked in the middle and the midfielder made no mistake, slotting a tidy finish just inside the left post.
Palmer doubled the lead after the 30th-minute cooling break with a goal of sublime quality. Latching onto a precise through ball from Levi Colwill, he cut inside before faking a pass to dummy a defender and firing into the bottom-left corner.
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Palmer then turned provider, running up the channel before finding Joao Pedro, who took the ball in his stride and beat the offside trap before chipping his finish beautifully over keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG’s misery was completed when Joao Neves was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair in the 83rd minute, as PSG’s players grew in frustration as the match progressed.
The encounter turned ill-tempered at the end, with players going at each other after the final whistle, but the flare-ups quickly dissipated as Chelsea’s players went to celebrate with their fans.
(With inputs from Reuters)
