EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Cole Palmer produced an attacking masterclass to inspire Chelsea to a shock 3-0 win over reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup Final at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Palmer scored twice and set up another for Joao Pedro in a masterful first half as Chelsea upset the form book to topple an all-conquering PSG that completed a treble at the end of May and romped its way to the final with an emphatic 4-0 win over Spanish giants Real Madrid in Wednesday’s semi-final.
“To score the goals was a great feeling,” Palmer said. “But I think the way the team showed fire out there… I just try to do my job every time I go out onto the pitch. Hopefully that continues.”
Enzo Maresca’s side was defensively resilient throughout the second half to hold onto its three-goal lead and fully deserved the upset victory. PSG, on the other hand, could not replicate the swashbuckling style that carried them to the final and saw them demolish Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final in May.
To add insult to injury, PSG’s Joao Neves was given his marching orders late in the second half for petulantly pulling the long hair of the excellent Marc Cucurella with five minutes of normal time remaining.
But it was Palmer who stood head and shoulders above the rest on Sunday afternoon. The English winger was the standout player throughout a flawless first half, scoring two identical goals on either side of the first half water break before laying an exquisite through ball for Chelsea’s third on the stroke of half time.
All three of Chelsea’s goals came down PSG’s left side as the Blues took advantage of Nuno Mendes’s marauding runs forward, often a key attacking component of Luis Enrique’s all-conquering PSG side.
“We saw that was a good opportunity to explore that space,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said. “We used [Palmer] and [Malo Gusto] on that side. That was just the game plan. We try to help the players be in position so they can give everything. It worked quite well.”
Chelsea, considered a long shot before the game, started much brighter against the European champions and should have been ahead after eight minutes when Palmer curled just wide from the edge of the area after a delightful Pedro flick.
Maresca praised his team’s performance in the early stages, stating that they “won the game in the first 10 minutes.”
“You can give a detailed plan to your players, but they have to execute it,” he continued.
PSG had swept aside all comers in the knockout stages en route to Sunday’s final and steadily grew into the occasion, pinning Chelsea back with a relentless press.
They should have taken the lead when Nuno Mendes found Desire Doue in acres of space at the back post, but the PSG winger, with the goal at his mercy, elected to square to Achraf Hakimi but saw his cutback intercepted by the excellent Marc Cucurella.
He was made to pay moments later when Palmer opened the scoring for Chelsea on 22 minutes with an exquisite finish.
The goal came after Mendes slipped while dealing with a seemingly routine long pass from Robert Sanchez, allowing Malo Gusto to race through on goal. The right back saw his initial shot blocked, but teed up Palmer on the edge of the area, who passed the ball beyond Donnarumma and into the bottom corner.
Chelsea – and Palmer – doubled their tally eight minutes later with a goal that was almost a carbon copy of the first. This time, Palmer latched onto a Levi Colwill long ball before sending Lucas Beraldo to the floor with a delightful dummy and again passing the ball beyond Donnarumma and into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
In what was quickly becoming the Cole Palmer Show, the English star was heavily influential in Chelsea’s third two minutes before the break. Palmer picked the ball up in space on the halfway line before driving at the PSG backline and threading a delightful defense-splitting pass through for Pedro, who supplied the exquisite finish with a sublime chip over the onrushing Donnarumma.
Sanchez produced a scrambling save to claw away a Neves header bound for the bottom corner on the stroke of half time and produced an even better save early in the second half to deny Ousmane Dembele from close range after some good work from Doue on the right wing.
For all their possession and energy, however, PSG struggled to create a chance of note against a rigid Chelsea defense that retreated deeper and deeper as the second half wore on, restricting space for the European champions.
It was actually Chelsea who came closest to scoring in a second half void of scoring chances. Donnarumma produced a fingertip save to turn away a long-range effort from substitute Liam Delap, bound for the top corner. Delap came closer still on 81 minutes when he took advantage of a Beraldo slip to race through on goal but saw his close-range effort thwarted by Donnarumma.
With PSG’s chances fading fast, Neves saw red and pulled Cucurella by the hair on the edge of the area, prompting a VAR review and an eventual red card as the Parisians’ hopes went up in smoke
“This is something that we have to be proud of,” Maresca said. “We are very happy, especially to do this against PSG… I consider them the best in the world, with one of the best managers in the world, fantastic players. Today has been a top, top achievement.”
