By Daniel Mfoniso
The Premier League side Chelsea shocked European Champions Paris Saint-Germain with a deserved 3-0 win in the first expanded FIFA Club world Cup, to conclude the extra-long 2024/25 club football season in an impressive fashion at MetLife Stadium in New York New Jersey.
Seams the Parisians ran out of steam in the match, and their press wasn’t there as Chelsea through talisman Cole Palmer had almost identical left-footed goals from just inside the penalty area in the 22nd and 30th minutes, to give the traveling fans a sense of believe.
The English skipper wasn’t done for the night, as he then sent a through pass that enabled João Pedro to chip goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 43d for his third goal in two starts with the Blues and also denied the Parisian’s shot stopper the tournament golden gloves.
Chelsea, however, were by far the better team throughout the match, as they counter-attacked with ferocity. Palmer bested Vitinha on multiple occasions, while Malo Gusto was exceptional against the uncharacteristically poor Nuno Mendes. Rubbing salt in the wound, Joao Neves was sent off for stupidly pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair with five minutes to go, sealing PSG’s fate.
Though the London team were tested in the tournament, after bouncing back from losing to Flamengo, the Blues stood tall amid the heat and physicality to win the entire tournament. For PSG, while this can’t spoil their treble-winning season, it does end it on a sour note to lose in this manner after running Real Madrid off the pitch in the semifinals.
It’s a moment to celebrate for the Blues and they’ll get to wear the Club World Cup winners’ patch on their jerseys for four years until the next tournament in 2029.
