Estevao scores but Chelsea beat Palmeiras 2-1 to set up a Semifinal showdown with Fluminense at MetLife stadium.
Chelsea are through to the semi finals of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. The Blues beat Brazilian side Palmeiras at the Lincoln Financial stadium on Friday night thanks to a Cole Palmer goal and an Agustin Giay own goal late on.
The players paid respects to the late Diogo Jota and Andre Silva before kickoff. The Portuguese duo died in a ghastly car crash in Spain yesterday.
Chelsea, missing Moises Caicedo through suspension, gave a first competitive start to Andry Santos after Reece James was withdrawn during the warmups. The Blues began the game the brighter side as reflected by a Cole Palmer’s goal with 16 minutes on the clock. They dominated for much of the first half but couldn’t put away their chances.
Those missed chances nearly proved to be costly as Palmeiras came out rejuvenated in the second half. Soon to be Chelsea winger, Estevao Willian scored a sensational goal to level things up for his current club. He received the ball and headed towards the byeline before smashing in a shot from a really tight angle past Robert Sanchez and in off the underside of the crossbar.
Chelsea’s manager hauled off Liam Delap who had been ineffective and new signing Jõao Pedro came on for his debut. The Blues pressed for a winner and found one very late into the game thanks to Malo Gusto’s cross that deflected off defender Giay Agustin and into his own goal to seal the win.
Enzo Maresca’s men will now face Fluminense in the semi final on Tuesday at the MetLife stadium.
Palmer buzzing for Estevao
There was a brief moment of bromance between Cole Palmer and Estevao Willian at full time with the Chelsea number 10 embracing his soon to be teammate and having a little chat that was aided largely by Darius Essugo who seemed to be translating for the two.
Estevao won the Man of the Match award and Cole Palmer had this to say:
“You can see he’s a top player, so we’re excited for him to join us.”
When asked about his chat with Estevao, he said
“nothing much, I just told him we were excited for him to join but he didn’t understand a word”
