New signing Joao Pedro played a starring role as Chelsea advanced to the FIFA Club World Cup final with a 2-0 win over Fluminense on Tuesday evening.
FIFA Club World Cup
Result: Fluminense 0-2 Chelsea
Date: 08 July 2025
Venue: MetLife Stadium
Pedro made his first start for the Blues in place of Liam Delap, while veteran defender Thiago Silva lined up for Fluminense against his former side at the age of 40.
The new signing marked his first start for the Blues in fine style when he opened the scoring for the London outfit on 18 minutes with a wonderful curling effort from distance against his former employers.
Fluminense nearly pulled themselves level in the 26th minute when Jhon Arias managed to poke the ball beyond goalkeeper Robert Sanchez but Blues defender Marc Cucurella got back in time to clear the effort off the line.
The Brazilian outfit thought they had received a penalty ten minutes later when the ball appeared to have struck the arm of defender Trevoh Chalobah in the box, however the referee reversed his decision after checking the incident on the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) monitor.
Chelsea carried that dominance into the second half and doubled their lead ten minutes in as Pedro completed his brace by cutting inside and rifling the ball in off the crossbar after a swift counter attack.
That proved to be Pedro's last involvement in the encounter, as Blues coach Enzo Maresca introduced Senegal international Nicolas Jackson for the final 30 minutes of the second period.
While Fluminense found it difficult to carve out any clear-cut openings, the London outfit should have had a third goal on 80 minutes when Jackson fired into the side-netting from close range, leaving an un-marked Cole Palmer disappointed in the six-yard area.
Chelsea were able to see out the closing stages with relative as they book their spot in the final, where they will face the winner of Wednesday's semi-final between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
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