Cole Palmer on Sunday scored two goals and made another as Chelsea stunned Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup, beating the European champions 3-0 before lifting the trophy alongside US President Donald Trump.
PSG were the favorites after traveling to the US fresh from winning the UEFA Champions League and having destroyed Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-finals, but having been three goals ahead early on in the semis, this time the roles were reversed as PSG found themselves 3-0 down by halftime.
Palmer opened the scoring midway through the first half and struck again to make it two on the half-hour mark, before taking advantage of passive defending to set up Joao Pedro for the third on 43 minutes.
Photo: EPA
A bad day for PSG was summed up when Joao Neves was shown a red card following a video assistant referee review four minutes from the end for pulling Marc Cucurella by the hair off the ball.
“Being Club World Cup champion is something for us to be proud of. We are very happy, especially against a team in PSG who I consider the best in the world, with one of the best managers in the world,” Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said, before hailing match-winner Palmer.
“These are the games where we expect Cole to appear because it is a big game, a big moment, and once again he showed how good he is,” he said.
Before Chelsea got to lift the trophy, tensions spilled over at fulltime with players facing off on the pitch and PSG head coach Luis Enrique raising his arm to the neck of Joao Pedro.
“There was a lot of pushing and shoving. It was a situation that obviously should have been avoided, but my intention was clearly just to try to separate the players,” Luis Enrique said.
The scoreline was one few could have predicted as Chelsea capped what has been a long, but memorable season — they are the first ever winners of the 32-team Club World Cup having also won the UEFA Conference League and finished fourth in the English Premier League.
They also take away about US$125 million in prize money, meaning the prospect of a drastically curtailed summer break before returning for next season would surely feel worth it.
For PSG, the financial rewards are similar, but there will be genuine disappointment at falling short of adding this title to their Champions League triumph, and French league and cup double.
Nevertheless, conquering Europe was always the main aim this season for Luis Enrique’s team, who now have exactly a month to digest this and take a holiday before returning to action in the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur.
There was a real sense of occasion at the MetLife Stadium, with the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline and with Trump in attendance along with first lady Melania Trump in a crowd of 81,118.
For the second time in six weeks PSG found themselves involved in a final that quickly turned into a one-sided affair.
The club claimed a historic 5-0 win over Italy’s Inter in the Champions League final, but here they were ripped apart by Chelsea.
The opening goal came in the 22nd minute as Malo Gusto got the better of Nuno Mendes down the right before seeing his shot blocked by Lucas Beraldo. The ball came back to Gusto and he teed up Palmer to finish into the bottom-left corner.
Palmer has been the face of Chelsea on billboards in the US during the tournament and he lived up to his star status by scoring again on the half-hour.
Released on the right with PSG leftback Mendes out of position, Palmer advanced toward the penalty area before stroking a low shot into the same corner.
Joao Pedro played a part in the buildup to that goal and the Brazilian, signed during the tournament from Brighton & Hove Albion, then got his name on the score sheet to make it 3-0.
Scorer of both goals against Fluminense in the semi-finals, he clipped a shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma after being supplied by Palmer.
PSG had conceded a single goal in their previous eight matches and they never really looked like producing a comeback, even if Neves headed a chance just wide in first-half stoppage-time.
Substitute Liam Delap almost got a fourth for Chelsea midway through the second half, before Neves was shown the red card to complete a bad day for PSG.
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