Jorginho shines in Club World Cup Opener as Flamengo beat Espérance | OneFootball

Flamengo was not in their most brillant night, but did what was necessary in Philadelphia, and with goals from De Arrascaeta and Luiz Araújo, kicked off the Club World Cup with a comfortable 2-0 victory against Espérance de Tunis.

Flamengo, with the same number of points and goals, surpasses Chelsea and takes the lead on the basis of fewer cards. The Blues, incidentally, will be Friday's opponents, while the Tunisians will face Los Angeles FC.

Flamengo controls

The first half was completely dominated by Flamengo. Filipe Luís's team suffocated the opposition with effective high pressing, and Espérance barely managed to cross the midfield in the first half-hour.

Jorginho, former Arsenal Player, played a 3+1 formation in the building up phase and Pulgar, the other midfielder, either dropped between the defenders to build up or advanced to create a numerical advantage in the final third when a full-back dropped back.

Despite the intensity at the start, Flamengo created few chances and shot on goal sparingly. The first threat came from an aerial ball: Léo Ortiz received a cross in the box and headed it dangerously.

The goal that gave the advantage to the Cariocas started with a great pass from Jorginho, who cleared the play. Varela appeared on the right, crossed, and Luiz Araújo set it up for De Arrascaeta to open the scoring.

Soon after, Gerson threatened the second goal with a strong shot in the box. Ben Said parried it. Despite continuing to dominate the first half, Flamengo gradually slowed down and started to manage the lead comfortably until the break.

Second and Decisive Blow

The second half was, at times, tense for the Brazilians. Belaili, the technical reference for the Tunisians, was dangerous twice. On the second occasion, he advanced on the left and shot low, forcing a good save from Rossi.

It was then that Jorginho again made a difference with his skill. The Italo-Brazilian made a good forward pass to Luiz Araújo, who positioned his body well and struck accurately into the corner, leaving Ben Said with no chance: 2-0.

Belaili kept trying. But Espérance, it must be said, only managed to get one shot on target. They tried to fight against their own limitations, but were far from achieving a better result in Philadelphia.

Without being spectacular, despite the brilliant Jorginho, Flamengo did their part. They won comfortably, took the lead in the group, and now prepare for the major challenge of the first phase: Chelsea.