Joao Pedro shines as Chelsea beat Fluminense to reach Club World Cup final | OneFootball

Joao Pedro staked his claim to be Chelsea’s starting striker with a fine full debut for the club as the Blues reached the final of the Club World Cup by beating Fluminense.

Enzo Maresca’s side struggled against another Brazilian team in Flamengo in the group stage and lost 3-1, but in the two games against Brazilian opposition since, they have more than righted those wrongs, also beating Palmeiras on their way to the final.

Joao Pedro was handed his first start since joining Chelsea against his boyhood club, while Thiago Silva featured for Fluminense against the club he won the Champions League with.

For Silva it was a disappointing outing, where his biggest impact on the game was inadvertently laying the ball off for Joao Pedro to score the opening goal, while for the new Chelsea forward it was a dream full debut, scoring two fantastic goals against the club where it all started for him.

The 23-year-old’s first goal was a beautiful curled effort from the edge of the box, and for his second he latched onto the ball midway into the Fluminense half, ran into the box and thundered a shot above Fabio into the roof of the net.

Watch the Club World Cup final on DAZN: www.dazn.com/Hayterstv

Unsurprisingly, Joao Pedro declined to celebrate after each goal. That is because he joined the Brazilian outfit when he was just 11-years-old, worked his way through the youth ranks, and made his senior debut for the club when he was 18.

In truth, Chelsea played at a different level to Fluminense. Renato Gaucho’s side did unbelievably well to reach the semi-finals of this competition, but this always seemed a step too far.

And in many ways, Chelsea had to win simply to avoid embarrassment. They have spent almost €2 billion on their squad since 2020, whilst the Brazilian side have spent just €45 million in the same period, according to Transfermarkt.

There could potentially have been a way back into the game for Fluminense in the 35th minute, when it was 1-0. The referee signalled for a penalty after a supposed handball from Trevoh Chalobah, but upon review the decision was overturned.

The Blues will now face either Real Madrid or PSG in the final, in what will be their toughest test of the tournament by far. Their journey to the final has involved playing LAFC, Leon, Flamengo, Esperance, Benfica, Palmeiras and Fluminense.

It has been a kind run of games for Chelsea so far, but there is no doubt that for Maresca to win this competition just over a year after taking the job would mark a very significant accomplishment.