Must be hard to play free-flowing football when it is as if the game is being played in a soulless hotel room and no one knows how to operate the central heating. The Blues eventually composed themselves in sweltering conditions in Philadelphia and secured a place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup with a clinical 3-0 win Espérance.
Enzo Maresca had little cause for concern at the end of the night after opting for his second string to deal with the Tunisian champions, and it proved to be a good night for the City boss. Liam Delap netted his first goal for his new club and while Chelsea ended up second in Group D behind Flamengo, there are positives of qualifying in second.
So, whilst luck over planning has seen off a date his weekend with Bayern Munich, Benfica capitalised on Vincent Kompany’s catastrophic rotation efforts on Tuesday afternoon to claim top spot in Group C with a surprising 1-0 victory over the German champions.
Chelsea would be well-advised not to take anything for granted when making the trip over to Charlotte to take on Champions League-experienced competitors Benfica. But things do appear a little brighter, too, than they did after last Friday’s lacklustre 3-1 loss to Flamengo. The Kings were limited at the other end but they managed to avoid a humiliating early exit and Maresca will be glad to have given a breather to Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill, Pedro Neto and Reece James against such limited opposition as Espérance.
Maresca said: “I am taking it game by game. “I’m not thinking about the final. We understand that Benfica is a top club with a top manager and top players. We are in the last 16 now and our target is to be in the quarter-finals.’
The process with Liam Delap we knew was going to be pretty quick as he knows us and we know quite a bit about him. We know each other very well. For him, however, the process is relatively brief. Also because he is a top player.’
Maresca’s starting 11 very much had that Conference League group stage feel to it. He made eight changes, including a rare opportunity for Filip Jorgensen in goal and a first start in attack for Christopher Nkunku since 17 April, and has caused a social media meltdown by again omitting his only other midfield option Andrey Santos, despite it being customary for managers easing a young player whose new teammates he has been with for less than two weeks into the team.
As Maresca noted, there are tactical subtleties for Santos to learn. This was Chelsea’s 60th game of a long season and if there was one thing that became apparent about Maresca’s first season at the helm it is that his style needs time to get to grips with. Those complexities were summed up by Malo Gusto inverting from left-back and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall playing on the right wing rather than in central midfield.
Not that Chelsea executed the plan particularly well in the first instance. Was it the result of the heatwave that prevented proper training? The heat was also causing Chelsea problems, with the temperature by kick-off at Lincoln Financial Field still at 35C, with the added danger of high humidity levels.
The opening 10 minutes were sluggish, Tosin Adarabioyo had a header go wide from a corner, but Espérance were soon exploiting spaces at the other end. Gusto was out of position in the build-up to a chance but the defender hurried back to thwart Elias Mokwana and there was fresh alarm when Yan Sasse found time to get inside Josh Acheampong on the other wing.
Chelsea hit back, with Nkunku releasing Liam Delap, who spun and shot against Bechir Ben Said from 20 yards. It was then that they began to exert a little more dominance, with Enzo Fernandez and Gusto combining for a near miss. Free header and Dewsbury-Hall should have done better.
Highlights
Ben Said, by now looking decidedly suspect, was then fortunate not to have spilled a shot from Acheampong. Noni Madueke was the Blues’ brightest spark during a frustrated first period and, having created space down the right, was only just unable to pick out Fernandez, who then whacked a volley across goal and wide.
Nkunku has been out of form and out of action himself of late, but belatedly he floated into little pockets of space. At least it gives Maresca a faint glimmer of hope in terms of how the forward could still be used if no buyer can be found for the France international this summer. Now Nkunku can be good, especially on the other end of the pitch. It’s not even that he still seems out of place in this system.
But Chelsea were countering as the minutes to half-time ticked down. Espérance were not great. That was when they crumbled, as Acheampong surged forward during stoppage-time and won a free-kick out on the right. Fernandez sent in a cross that Tosin glanced in with a clever header.
With pressure relived Chelsea continued to push before half time and the second goal arrived when Liam Delap turned on the left side, drove into the box and shot with his right foot. Ben Said, bizarrely, hardly moved as the ball dribbled towards the back of his net pretty much down the middle of the goal, as if an outfield player was forced to take a reluctant turn in the nets in a Sunday night five-a-side.
The second half was one-way traffic for Chelsea. Madueke and Nkunku went close; Tyrique George and Marc Guiu were introduced and were also denied by Ben Said. And with the game won, Maresca withdrew Liam Delap, providing the striker with a rest - with Nicolas Jackson still suspended after a red card against Flamengo, the City manager will need to keep an eye on the workload of his forwards.
Santos had appeared to have made an immediate impact when he was felled by a defender and the penalty awarded him was then overturned after a VAR review, the final indignity arriving with a late runout.
It made no difference. Aug 9, 2023 · This drew Flamengo against Bayern following Flamengo’s 1-1 draw with Los Angeles FC. A £7m cheque, however, was still Chelsea’s as they cruised through to the knockout stages of the competition, the scoreboard at least slightly embellished when Ben Said could only parry George’s long-range effort.