Chelsea have entered the FIFA Club World Cup knockouts after beating Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 and will play their last-16 tie against Benfica, who defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 earlier in searing heat.
Chelsea eased through with a clinical 3-0 win over Esperance at Lincoln Financial Field in Group D in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
New signing Liam Delap opened his account for the club with a deftly taken finish in stoppage time at the end of the first half, just moments after Tosin Adarabioyo had headed the Blues in front.
Teenage talent Tyrique George added Chelsea’s third deep into injury time at the end of the game with a low shot that crept under Esperance goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said.
They had created a few openings and controlled the play — registering 75% possession in the first half — but were unable to press home that advantage. Time and again, this has been Chelsea’s undoing.
Delap made sure the story was different this time and his first goal for the club — on his third appearance — was the pivotal moment in a 3-0 win and comes at a particularly opportune moment.
Earlier in the day, Chelsea learned that FIFA had decided to extend Nicolas Jackson’s suspension for his red card against Flamengo from the mandatory one game to two. That means he will also miss Saturday’s round-of-16 clash against Benfica in Charlotte, and it will give Delap another opportunity to stake his claim as their main forward when the 2025-26 campaign begins in August.
The competition between Jackson and Delap is close, but there is little doubt who has the momentum right now. He turned a difficult evening into a routine one, and that, in essence, is the job.
Chelsea were sufficiently comfortable to take Delap off in the 59th minute with Benfica in mind, and the two-goal margin here also masked another evening where manager Enzo Maresca tried to balance the seemingly incompatible dual aims of trying to win this competition and experimenting for next season.
Maresca made eight changes to the team that lost to Flamengo, with Cole Palmer, Reece James, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Moisés Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Trevoh Chalobah, and Robert Sánchez all among the substitutes.
