Thanks for following along with us this evening – or morning, if you’re on Chelsea’s side of the Atlantic. We’ve seen a few good games in this tournament, and this was certainly one of them.
Catch up on all that happened with Jacob Steinberg’s report.
Updated
Palmer is asked about Estêvão joining Chelsea: “You can see he’s a top player, so we’re excited.”
Palmer was actually seen smiling during this conversation. Sorry I don’t have photographic evidence.
Robert Speed writes: “FIFA used to have a perfectly fine rule on yellow card suspensions at these tournaments, where yellow cards were wiped after the group phase. But then Michael Ballack deservedly missed the 2002 World Cup final for a 2nd yellow in the knockouts, so they ruined the rule and instead wiped yellow cards after the quarterfinals. Now 2 yellow cards in the space of 5 matches, and a player misses a semi-final. The final is not the only important match in the tournament. It really shouldn’t be treated differently, at the expense of ridiculously suspending all these players in earlier matches.”
Sound argument, though I think Delap and Rios should miss the next match just through the sheer idiocy of their actions.
You could call Chelsea a bit lucky on the second goal, with a deflection and an uncharacteristic misplay by goalkeeper Weverton. But this result is no more than Chelsea deserve. Estêvão had his moments, to be sure, but Chelsea outshot Palmeiras 19-7, with a 6-2 edge in shots on target. Palmer was excellent through much of the game, and Chelsea only got better when Madueke entered the fray.
Estêvão takes the Player of the Match award despite being on the losing side, and it’s absolutely a fair choice. Several Chelsea players work their way over to him, and they’re all smiles. They know they’re getting a great new teammate.
Full time: Palmeiras 1-2 Chelsea
Nice choice of music in Philadelphia – the Madness instrumental One Step Beyond. Chelsea will indeed take one more step and will face a second consecutive Brazilian side, Fluminense, in the semi-finals.
90 min +4: SAVE OFF THE POST. Terrible giveaway from Palmeiras, and Palmer gratefully heads into the attacking half. It ends up with Madueke, who drills a shot that Weverton does very well to redirect off the post.
And another Chelsea shot with another great save by Weverton. No goal for Chelsea, but they’re making that clock tick.
90 min +3: Palmer is hopping mad, literally, after being whistled for fouling Veiga.
90 min +2: Madueke has been giving the Palmeiras defense fits. He draws a free kick near the center circle.
90 min +1: We’ll have four minutes of added time. Add another 30-60 seconds because Chelsea are making a sub. Anbrey Santos, the last-minute addition to the starting XI, will head out after a strong showing in the Chelsea midfield. Dario Essugo is in.
ESPN’s scores page is giving the own goal to Giay rather than Weverton, which does indeed make more sense.
87 min: Sanchez slaps away a hard Mauricio shot like a volleyball player spiking the ball. It wouldn’t have mattered – the whistle had just gone for a foul.
86 min: I believe this is the last sub window for Palmeiras. Rios, who will miss the semi-final that his team is now unlikely to make, makes way for Raphael Veiga.
Then it’s yellow to Colwill, and he will also miss the semi-final.
Pedro Neto is out, with Kieran Dewsbury-Hall coming in.
85 min: Chelsea are off to the races again, and Fuchs has to make a vital recovery run.
But they overplay their hand, and Paulinho cuts back against Colwill to get space for a shot that trickles past the far post.
Goooooalll! Palmeiras 1-2 Chelsea (own goal 83)
Chelsea take a short corner. Gusto tries to whip in a cross, and it takes a slight deflection off Giay and goes through the grasp of the Palmeiras keeper.
The official ruling now is an own goal by Weverton.
Updated
82 min: Palmer has the ball in an acre of space and opts to drop the ball back to Fernandez, who drills a shot from the center of the arc that’s deflected for a corner.
80 min: Another solid play from Anbrey Santos for Chelsea, a slide tackle that pops the ball free from an attacker. Palmeiras win back possession and cross, but it goes straight to Sanchez.
79 min: Palmer takes the free kick and drills it straight into Moreno’s face. People in the USA call that “taking one for the team.”
77 min: Cucurella does well to dispossess Estêvão before the Palmeiras goal-scorer can do anything with the ball.
Chelsea go on the attack, and Madueke earns a free kick at the top of the penalty arc, slotting the ball through Micael’s legs and getting knocked down by the defender.
And it’s a yellow for Richard Rios, likely for dissent. He’ll miss the next match. That’s not smart.
Speaking of dissent, Peter Oh wrote again to say he believes, based on lip-reading, that Delap dropped a particular four-letter word in his conversation with the referee. He easily could’ve earned a second yellow.
75 min: More subs for Palmeiras – Anibal Moreno for Martinez, and Jose Lopez for Vitor Roque.
73 min: Madueke goes one-on-one with Fuchs and finally gets some space for a cross, and Fuchs has to stretch out a leg to knock it out for a corner.
Off that corner, the ball lands at Cucurella’s feet, and he kicks what would certainly be three points when this stadium resumes NFL hosting duties.
70 min: Colwill races back to break up a dangerous cross, conceding a corner but squashing a terrific Palmeiras opportunity.
69 min: Palmer plays back to Sanchez, and the Chelsea keeper dawdles too long with the ball and is nearly dispossessed. That’ll make Chelsea supporters’ heart rate shoot upward.
68 min: João Pedro explodes like a Fourth of July firework into a dangerous spot, but his touch is heavy and drifts over the line before he can tap it back toward a teammate.
66 min: The other sub, João Pedro, dribbles across the top of the penalty area and drags a mishit shot wide.
Now Palmeiras will use some subs – Allan and Facundo Torres depart, replaced by Paulinho and Mauricio.
65 min: It’s Madeuke again on the left flank, driving into the penalty area and attempting a through ball that Weverton gathers. Inspired substitution for Chelsea.
63 min: Madueke is proving to be quite the handful for the Palmeiras defense.
But Palmeiras break again, and Allan shoots just wide of the far post.
61 min: Someone asked about Andrey Santos? He just single-handedly broke up a Palmeiras counterattack, so I’d say that’s pretty positive.
Madueke earns another corner. Possession stays with Chelsea, and Colwill knocks a cross of a defender for yet another corner.
60 min: Palmer tries to dribble, which is difficult when the ball is under the prone body of Richard Rios. That’ll be a free kick for Palmeiras.
58 min: The cameras give some love to the joyful Palmeiras supporters, of whom there are a great many. This is practically a home match for the Brazilian side.
55 min: Chelsea figure it’s time for some substitutions, and it’s no surprise that Delap, who has spent more time complaining and fouling than doing anything constructive, is out. So is Nkunku, who has done little but put a shot a mile away from the target.
Now in – Noni Madueke and the new signing, João Pedro.
Madueke immediately earns a corner kick.
Goooooalll!!!! Palmeiras 1-1 Chelsea (Estêvão 53)
Wow!
To say that would be an acute angle would be an understatement. Estêvão turned on Colwill and wound up three yards from the goal line but about three yards outside the 6-yard box. No problem. He simply drills it into the underside of the bar, and it lands nicely in the goal.
50 min: Cucurella should count himself very lucky that he hasn’t become the next name in Faghani’s book. He plows through Allan, knocking the Palmeiras attacker out of his boot. Literally.
And now Chris Colwill is in the referee’s face – or over it, considering Colwill’s height advantage – because he has been asked to kindly stop shoving people as Palmeiras take a set piece.
I’d have given about 20 yellows for dissent by now.
49 min: Clumsy foul from Cucurella, and Palmeiras have a free kick near the sideline. Sanchez snags it out of the air with little fuss.
Rod Boyle writes in regard to the shorts: “Is it not more likely that there is a rule about matching shorts?”
As in having to wear a shorts that aren’t the same color as the opponents’? That would rule out Chelsea wearing white shorts, sure.
They still look gray-ish to me, but I’ve seen some photos in which they have a green tint. This is turning into a “what color is this dress?” thing.
46 min: Free kick for Palmeiras, and Fuchs pops free for an open header, but he did so by leaning his whole body into an offside position, so the point is moot.
Fifa’s stat page says Chelsea have scored one goal (obviously). Inside the penalty area: no goals. Outside the penalty area: no goals. Cole Palmer apparently has departed into another dimension.
Delap returns to the field and resumes his argument with the referee. Embarrassing, frankly. Unless he also has been sent to another dimension and a replicant was the one who committed the foul.
Kickoff …
Mailbag time …
An unidentified person asks: “Talk before the game was that Caicedo’s absence could be a problem for Chelsea, then James was withdrawn. How’s Santos doing? Thanks.”
He hasn’t done anything particularly noteworthy, but Chelsea have done well in possession, and Palmeiras haven’t found any space in the middle of the field, so no news is good news. He’s in a position where he’d be noticed if he did poorly, and that’s not happening.
Usman Moorad: “Can you please help me understand why Chelsea’s shorts are green? I swear their away Jersey on their site has white shirts.”
They look gray-ish to me. But I figure clubs that spend as much as Chelsea will eventually have a shirt and shorts in every conceivable color so they can rack up the sales.
Justin Kavanagh again: “There are fireworks going on everywhere across the city of Philadelphia right now, and there are a fair few bombs bursting in air inside the Linc too! Some of the tackling is positively explosive and the fuse has been lit here for an explosive climax to this one. Should the ref be exerting more control?”
I think this email came in before at least one of the yellow cards. I’ve only seen one or two incidents that may have merited a whistle. On the whole, I think he’s doing well. He had some conversations early in the game, but some players apparently didn’t listen.
Halftime: Palmeiras 0-1 Chelsea
The half ends with Delap barking at Faghani. Maybe we should peek into Chelsea’s options on the bench.
45 min +2: The referee, incidentally, is Alireza Faghani, who’s from Iran but has moved to Australia.
He gives a yellow to Delap, which means he would miss the semi-final. He argues, but maybe he shouldn’t slam into opposing players when the ball is nowhere near. Appalling judgment on the Chelsea man’s part, and not for the first time in this contest.
45 min: Giay and Cucurella battle for the ball, and Giay responds with the lightest of touches to Cucurella’s chest. The Chelsea defender drops like a bowling pin. The referee is not impressed.
44 min: OK, we’ll take away the 10 from Palmer after a petulant foul at midfield. That’s eight fouls for each team, most of them rather silly and unnecessary.
42 min: CHANCE for Palmeiras as a well-placed cross finds the onrushing Vanderlan, whose header slams into the grass and up into Sanchez’s hands. The Brazilian side are creeping back into this contest.
41 min: Yellow to Chelsea defender Gusto, who’s late in a challenge and catches Micael’s leg. No argument there.
40 min: Palmer, deep in his own half, cuts back to lose a defender like Saquon Barkley on this same field. People who rate players in games rarely give a 10, but Palmer would be in the running for one at the moment.
38 min: What on earth?! Estêvão holds off a challenge from Cucurella as he goes from right to left, then plays out to the left flank, and then his cross finds two Palmeiras players, both of whom get a touch on the ball.
They were both offside, so it’s academic, but it’s one of the stranger-looking sequences of this tournament.
36 min: Enzo Fernandez gives future teammate Estêvão a good whack in the legs. His arrival at Chelsea is going to be interesting.
34 min: Palmer fights off multiple defenders at the top of the penalty area, and manages to tap the ball to the unmarked Nkunku, who has time and space but sends his shot into orbit.
33 min: Another corner for Chelsea as Palmer whips in a dangerous cross. Superb game for Palmer so far, even aside from his well-taken goal.
32 min: Justin Kavanagh writes: So is Estêvão’s approach tonight “If you can’t beat them, join them”? Or is it a case of “If you don’t want to join them just yet, beat them”?
Probably more of a case of “if you can’t make that much money without them, join them.”
30 min: Fuchs makes some angry gestures toward Delap after the Chelsea man barges into Allan. Delap isn’t making many friends here tonight.
29 min: Chelsea’s possession is somewhere in the 70% range, which normally is not a reliable indicator of who’s getting the better of play but happens to be a pretty good snapshot of the game at the moment.
27 min: Weverton, Palmeiras’ standout goalkeeper, has taken a seat and is now getting attention from the trainers. The break in the action turns into an unofficial cooling break.
24 min: Chelsea win the ball back after a very brief Palmeiras possession, and Neto again beats a defender or three on his way into the area from the right flank. His cross barely misses three teammates lined up but marked at close range.
21 min: Apparently a defective game ball, which I believe it not the first time that’s happened in this tournament.
20 min: Two shots for Chelsea in two minutes. Cucurella takes a speculative shot from outside the area off the corner, but it’s handled easily. Enzo Fernandez is next up from 20 yards but puts it straight into Weverton’s secure hands.
18 min: Corner for Chelsea as Palmeiras struggle to deal with a cross from Palmer, who’s running rampant here.
He’s been in Chelsea’s first team for a couple of years now, and still, whenever I hear “Cole Palmer” in an English accent, I hear it as “Carl Palmer,” drummer of ELP and Asia.
Gooooal! Palmeiras 0-1 Chelsea (Palmer 16)
Simple but effective. Palmer turns to receive a pass, wrong-foots a defender and slots the ball into the net from the top of the area.
Updated
14 min: Tempers flare a bit as Liam Delap gives Augustin Giay a little push, with neither player near the ball. Giay understandably takes exception.
11 min: The plentiful Palmeiras supporters register their disapproval after Chelsea take a free kick. Chelsea maintain possession, and Gusto gets all the way down to the goal line for a cross to Enzo Fernandez, who puts a shot wide under pressure.
10 min: Another promising Chelsea possession, but Estêvão drives against future teammate Cucurella and wins a corner.
7 min: Vitor Roque carries the ball about 50 yards into the Chelsea half but finds no passing lanes back to the center. They still maintain possession until Cucurella wins a 50-50 ball with Allan. Palmeiras want a whistle, but Cucurella was simply first to the ball, and Allan clattered into his leg and got the worst of it.
6 min: Palmeiras not really pressing, so Chelsea knock the ball around for a while. They finally find a seam, but it’s closed down quickly.
5 min: SHOT for Chelsea, as Cole Palmer drills a shot from just outside the area that forces Weverton to dive and punch it out for a corner.
3 min: A surging run in the penalty area for Pedro Neto, perhaps reassuring anyone that he will indeed be able to play despite grieving for his close friend Diogo Jota.
1 min: Palmeiras win a corner quickly. (Ignore my previous comment that Chelsea won it. I am not yet in Da Zone.)
Updated
Moment of silence
Does anyone wonder why most of the world does a minute of silence while the USA only do a moment?
In any case, the teams stand on the center circle and pause to remember Diogo Jota and Andre Silva.
And we’re off …
Late change
Reece James is ruled out with injury. Enter Brazilian Andrey Santos.
How’s the weather?
Currently 79 degrees in Philadelphia, with a “feels like” of 80. Should be fine.
Hi, email people!
Peter Oh promises to keep his messages free of references to Philadelphia’s favorite fictional son, Rocky Balboa: “Palmeiras was founded by Italian immigrants and Philadelphia also has a long history of Italian immigration, so it’s fitting that the São Paulo club is considered the home team today. My favorite team in the Brazilian megalopolis is São Paulo FC, but I’ll make an exception today and root for Philly! I mean Palmeiras. Forza Palestra Italia!”
Justin Kavanagh notes the lack of English players with the English club: “Abel Ferreira’s rallying cry for local Philly fans to support the Brazilians against the English was a cute bit of chicanery, with echoes of Diego Maradona’s call for Neopolitans to cheer against Italy at the 1990 World Cup. But ‘the British are coming, the British are coming’ doesn’t really resonate when it’s Chelsea, with all of four English players in the starting 11, one of whom was born in Africa!”
Which team costs more?
Let’s say you’re starting up a club and have a few billion Euros lying around. How much would it cost you to buy all the players from either of these clubs, according to TransferMarkt?
Palmeiras checks in at 256.6m Euros.
Chelsea? 1.2 billion Euros. But maybe you can take advantage of their special summer pricing.
And still they keep buying, including a transfer between tonight’s teams, taking away Palmeiras’ most expensive player (TransferMarkt value: 60m Euros …
Who’s left from 2021 final?
The 2021 final was played in February 2022. Blame Covid.
Chelsea’s lineup that day: Edouard Mendy; Antonio Rüdiger, Thiago Silva, Andreas Christiansen (Malang Sarr); Callum Hudson-Odoi (Saúl Ñíguez), Mateo Kovacic (Hakim Ziyech), N’Golo Kanté, César Azpilicueta; Kai Havertz, Mason Mount (Christian Pulisic); Romelu Lukaku (Timo Werner)
Tonight’s Chelsea lineup: Robert Sanchez; Marc Cucurella, Levi Colwill, Trevoh Chalobah, Malo Gusto; Enzo Fernandez, Reece James; Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku, Cole Palmer; Liam Delap
So that’s … no one.
Palmeiras 2021/2: Weverton; Gustavo Scarpa, Joaquin Piquerez, Luan, Gustavo Gomez, Marcos Rocha (Deyverson); Dudu (Rafael Navarro), Ze Rafael (Jailson), Danilo, Rony (Wesley); Raphael Veiga (Eduard Atuesta)
Tonight’s Palmeiras lineup: Weverton; Vanderlan, Bruno Fuchs, Micael, Agustin Giay; Emiliano Martinez, Richard Rios; Facundo Torres, Allan Andrade, Estêvão; Vitor Roque
Congratulations, Weverton. You are the only person remaining.
Preamble
One side of the Club World Cup semi-finals will be all-European. Will the other side be all-Brazilian?
Fluminense have booked their place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Al-Hilal, the Saudi team that eliminated Manchester City in the Game of the Century (so far). Can Palmeiras join them and set up the ultimate showdown of Rio vs. São Paulo (aka Carioca vs. Paulista)? Or will this upstart club from London called Chelsea knock them out?
Chelsea will be playing through off-field distractions – a hefty fine from Uefa and the tragic death of Liverpool’s Diogo Jota, whose close friend Pedro Neto may miss this match. (UPDATE: Pedro Neto is in the starting XI.)
This quarter-final is a rematch of the 2021 final, which Chelsea won 2-1 in extra time. Chelsea that year featured a young American named Christian Pulisic. We understand he’s no longer there.
Updated
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Jacob Steinberg’s latest dispatch from Philadelphia.
