Chelsea stun PSG to win ‘Club World Cup’ after Cole Palmer’s incredible double

Chelsea FC have been crowned champions of the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup after a superb performance, thrashing Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) 3-0.

Two wonderful, almost identical, strikes executed with effortless ease by Cole Palmer and a lovely soft-shoed assist from him buried with a ding by Joao Pedro led English Premier League (EPL) side Chelsea to a resounding final victory in the expanded Club World Cup.

In a blockbuster final at the MetLife Stadium, Palmer scored twice in eight minutes in the opening half before setting up Joao Pedro just before the break for the third.

Against a PSG side that had swept all before them in Europe and over the past month in the United States, Chelsea delivered a masterclass in pressing, played some telling passes that constantly stretched the star-studded French side.

PSG were better after the break; Dembele hit the post and Vitinho fired just wide. But Chelsea’s defence held firm, and Enzo Maresca’s side deservedly claimed the spoils.

To add to PSG’s misery, João Neves was sent off for pulling Cucurella’s hair late on. Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca made two changes from his side’s semi-final victory over Fluminense FC, with Levi Colwill and Reece James coming in for Tosin Adarabioyo and Christopher Nkunku, respectively, while Joao Pedro kept his place up front.

These moves paid off, with the Blues looking extremely dangerous from the outset. Palmer showed his intent when he came close to opening the scoring in just the seventh minute with a curling left-footed effort that flew just wide.

Luis Enrique’s side were chasing a quadruple of major trophies during the 2024/25 campaign. This hadn’t been what PSG, or anyone, expected; and at the final whistle, they lost the plot, confrontations sparked on the pitch.

Somewhere in the crowd, the coach Luis Enrique seemed to grab at João Pedro’s throat just as João Neves had grabbed at Marc Cucurella’s hair in the dying minutes of the match, their dreadful afternoon wrapped up with a red card.

For Chelsea, it could not have gone any better, and almost from the start. Ultimately, they had won this inside 30 minutes, which is what their opponents were supposed to do.

“We know that they begin games very fast, very strong,” Cucurella had said; but while Ousmane Dembélé almost caught Sánchez 95 seconds in, it was Chelsea who did so. The first chance was theirs inside 10 minutes and it was so close that some in this stadium celebrated, João Pedro teeing up Palmer for a shot that bent just past the post. That, it turned out, was just a sighter; next time, the MetLife could let go for real.

It was handed to them by Donald Trump, who was booed when he appeared and hung about in the picture for a bit before Chelsea’s players pushed in front of him on the podium. Reece James lifted it; fireworks went off and Blue is the Colour went round. They had done it.

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