Palmer shines as Chelsea crush PSG to win FIFA Club World Cup

New Jersey, July 14 (IANS) Chelsea FC have been crowned the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup champions after a superb performance by Cole Palmer guided the Premier League side to a resounding 3-0 final victory over ten-man Paris Saint-Germain on Monday (IST).

In a blockbuster final at the MetLife Stadium, Palmer scored twice in an eight-minute spell in the opening half and then played through Joao Pedro just before the break to set up the Blues for a deserved triumph over the European champions.

Chelsea finished as top scorers in the tournament with 17 goals; one more than PSG, Manchester City and Bayern who were all on 16.

Luis Enrique's side, who were chasing a quadruple of major trophies during the 2024/25 campaign, were rocked by Chelsea's first-half onslaught and looked a shadow of the team who demolished Real Madrid C.F. in the semi-finals, reports FIFA.

The Londoners' devastating performance provided a fitting climax to a hugely successful tournament and cements their status as one of the teams to beat in both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League next season.

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.

PSG soon found their footing and Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella reacted brilliantly to block a dangerous pass across goal by Desire Doue that was directed towards Achraf Hakimi.

But Chelsea continued to push and took a deserved lead in the 22nd minute when Joao Pedro attacked down the right and squared the ball to Palmer, who found the corner of the net in style.

With confidence now soaring, Palmer doubled Chelsea's lead with a copycat effort when he weaved his way forward to the edge of the PSG area and caressed a sublime left-footed effort into the same bottom corner.

The England international then capped an incredible first-half display when he weighted a perfect through ball to Joao Pedro, who chipped the ball neatly over Gianluigi Donnarumma for his third goal in two games.

PSG had no answers for Chelsea's defensive set-up and Liam Delap almost scored twice after coming on as a second-half substitute.

Any hopes of a comeback ended when Joao Neves was sent off six minutes from time for pulling Cucurella's hair as Chelsea held on to seal their place in football history.

--IANS

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