Cole Palmer produced a clandestinous master class of the first half when Chelsea demolished the Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 to win the club's final of the Club at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday.
The English attack midfielder scored twice and provided assistance for João Pedro in a devastating exhibition in the decisive of the renewed tournament that left the European and French champions, who finished with 10 men, surprised before the break.
Chelsea, who won the 2021 Club World Cup in its previous format, first attacked in the 22nd minute when PSG Nuno Fullback gave possession to a bad taste. After Mendes blocked his initial effort, Taste collected the rebound and found Palmer without marking in the middle and the midfielder did not make any mistake, riding an ordered ending just inside the left post.
Palmer doubled the advantage after the 30 -minute cooling break with a sublime quality objective. Touring on a precise ball through Levi Colwill, he cut inside before pretending a pass for a false defender and shooting to the lower left corner.
Palmer then became a supplier, running along the channel before finding Joao Pedro, who took the ball with his passage and beat the trap offside before attributing his finish wonderfully about goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG's misery was completed when João Neves was expelled to pull Marc Cucurella hair in the 83rd minute, since PSG players grew frustrated as the game progressed.
The match became a bad match at the end, with players who headed to each other after the final whistle, but the shoots dissipated quickly when Chelsea players went to celebrate with their fans.
“It's a great sensation,” Palmer told Dazn. “Even better because everyone doubted us before the game, we knew it. To fight as we did, it's good. The Gaffer put a great game plan. I knew where space would be. He tried to free me as much as possible and just had to pay it and write down some goals.”
Palmer, who won the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament, added: “I like the finals. It has happened again.”
Chelsea arrived at the US. Uu. After winning the League of the third level conference of Europe and the back of a national campaign in which they achieved only a final of the Premier League among the first four.
Before the game, Chelsea's manager, Enzo Maresca, said he was waiting for a “chess game” against PSG coach Luis Enrique, but was a fast check partner for the Italian, who gave a tactical master class.
The Maresca team used a large relentless press and emulated the tactics used by the Brazilian team Botafogo, who had defeated PSG 1-0 in the group stage and was the only team that scored against Luis Enrique's team in the previous eight games.
His press caused the PSG all kinds of problems and when the Maresca team could not recover possession, they sat deeply, frustrating the European champions, who could not play their usual game.
The direct and racing football that we had become accustomed to seeing in the PSG was the Chelsea game on Sunday, with Palmer, Taste and Joao Pedro separating the defense of the PSG, especially on the left side.
In addition to an early golden opportunity for PSG's desire, which was wasted, the first half was Chelsea and, after opening its advantage of three goals, the French side could never recover.
“Chelsea was more effective than us, they worked well in our slight weakness,” said PSG Marquinhos captain.
“Tactically, they caused us problems in the first half and we take time to react. These are things that we will have to change in the future. I think all teams will now study us closely to see what we do well and what we do wrong. Now it depends on us to always be at the top of our game.”
