Chelsea advances to Club World Cup semifinals with 2-1 win over Palmeiras
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Chelsea scored the go-ahead goal on Malo Gusto's 83rd-minute shot that went in after a pair of deflections, beating Palmeiras 2-1 on Friday night for a spot in the Club World Cup semifinals.
Cole Palmer put Chelsea ahead in the 16th minute but Estêvão, an 18-year-old who will transfer to Chelsea this summer, tied the score against his future club with an angled shot in the 53rd.
Gusto's shot following a short corner kick appeared to deflect off defender Agustin Giay and goalkeeper Weverton and sent the Chelsea portion of 65,782 fans into a frenzy. FIFA credited Weverton with an own goal.
Chelsea won't travel far for its next match, facing Fluminense on Tuesday at East Rutherford, New Jersey. Hércules came off the bench and scored in the 70th minute to lift Fluminense past Al Hilal 2-1 in Friday's earlier quarterfinal.
With Chelsea's win, three of the four semifinal teams will be from Europe, with one from Brazil.
The 23-year-old Palmer scored his first goal in the Club World Cup, and showed why he's widely considered one of the top attacking midfielders. He took a pass from Trevoh Chalobah and slipped the ball inside the far post.
Fans made it to Lincoln Financial Field on a holiday weekend that included a strike by nearly 10,000 city workers in Philadelphia, competition from an earlier Phillies game, and a concert and fireworks show near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. FIFA had slashed tickets to as low as $11.15.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino attended the game, the eighth of the tournament at the home of NFL Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
There was a pregame pregame tribute for Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother, André Silva, who were found dead near Zamora in northwestern Spain after the Lamborghini they were driving crashed and burst into flames on an isolated stretch of highway. Key moments
Forward Liam Delap and defender Levi Colwill each got their second yellow cards of the tournament and will be suspended for the semifinal. Takeaways
Estêvão agreed to a deal with Chelsea last summer that moved him to Chelsea afterhe turned 18.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
recommended
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Enzo Maresca hails ‘fantastic' Estevao after Chelsea beat Palmeiras to progress in Club World Cup
Enzo Maresca says beating Palmeiras was the 'perfect night' for Chelsea. The Blues picked up a 2-1 victory to advance to the semi-finals of the Club World Cup, with soon to be Chelsea youngster Estevao also scoring for Palmeiras in what was his last game for the Brazilian side. Advertisement The 18-year-old will now link up with Maresca's side having previously agreed a move to the club. The Chelsea manager said: 'Estevao, I spoke with him for the first time after the game. I told him that it's been the perfect night because we won, he scored. So it's been perfect for us and for him. You can see that he's a huge talent. 'You can see that he's a fantastic player. And the only thing for me is when you come from South America or in general from the other part of the world, Europe, you need to adapt. So, we're going to help him to adapt. First of all, to be happy, to continue to enjoy football. And we don't have any doubt because he's so good that he's going to be a very important player for Chelsea.' The build-up for the game was focused largely around Estevao, and it is fair to say he delivered on that excitement. He was directly up against Marc Cucurella, one of the best full-backs in the Premier League, and caused him all sorts of problems. Advertisement Maresca also confirmed that new signing Jamie Gittens was in attendance in Philadelphia: 'Jamie was here tonight, he was on the pitch. And he will be with us probably one more day, two days more. And then he will go for a holiday and come back when we're going to start the new season.' Preparation for the game was not perfect, with some injuries and suspensions, and Maresca hailed the way his side overcame some adversity to get the win: 'Moi [Caicedo] was suspended. Romeo [Lavia], unfortunately, he had a small muscle problem. And Reece, he felt something during the warm-up. We think that it's tightness, so we prefer not to take any risk for him. 'And we decided to start with Andrey [Santos]. I think now we are one year together. We know each other much, much better compared to one year ago. And with different structure, different way to play, I think the players, they are getting better and better.' Advertisement Chelsea will now face another Brazilian side, Fluminense, in New York, and the Italian said he has been very impressed with them so far: 'I watched this afternoon's game. I watched some games that they have played. And you can see that they are very well organised. They have some very good players. 'The manager is doing a fantastic job. The energy from the Brazilian team in this competition has been high energy. Probably the reason why is because you are starting now the season, while we are finishing the season. So, the energy is normal. It is different. And we try to deal with that in a different way.'
San Francisco Chronicle
29 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Liverpool players join family of Diogo Jota and his brother for funeral held in Portugal
GONDOMAR, Portugal (AP) — Liverpool players joined family and friends for the funeral of their teammate Diogo Jota and his brother on Saturday, two days after the siblings died in a car crash in Spain. The service will be held at Igreja Matriz church in the Portuguese town of Gondomar, where Jota had a home. Portugal's national team coach Roberto Martínez and several top Portuguese players also attended, including Manchester City duo Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias and Manchester United's Bruno Fernándes. Jota, 28, and his brother, André Silva, 25, were found dead near Zamora in northwestern Spain early Thursday after the Lamborghini they were driving crashed on an isolated stretch of highway just after midnight on Thursday and burst into flames. The brothers were reportedly heading to catch a boat from northern Spain to go to England where Jota was to rejoin with Liverpool after a summer break. Spanish police are investigating the cause of the crash, which did not involve another vehicle, they said. They said they believe it could have been caused by a blown tire. Their bodies were repatriated to Portugal after being identified by the family. A wake was held for them on Friday. Jota's death occurred two weeks after he married long-time partner Rute Cardoso while on vacation from a long season where he helped Liverpool win the Premier League. The couple had three children, the youngest born last year. Jota was born in Porto but started his playing career as a child on nearby Gondomar. Silva played for Portuguese club Penafiel in the lower divisions. Their loss led to an outpouring of condolences from the soccer world and Portuguese officials. ___ Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain. ___
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
How well do you remember past PSG v Bayern meetings?
Paris St-Germain take on Bayern Munich in the Club World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday (17:00 BST), but how much do you remember about past meetings between the two European heavyweights? They have faced each other 14 times in the Champions League since 1994 - test your knowledge with our quiz. Advertisement Go to our dedicated football quizzes page, where you can have a go at previous editions and sign up for notifications to get the latest quizzes sent straight to your device
