A penalty scored almost four hours after kick-off, VAR drama, an extra time red card, a stunning free kick, a late burst of goals and a near-two hour weather delay headlined one of the most wild games of the FIFA Club World Cup so far.
Chelsea were 4-1 winners in the end against Benfica at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina but the scoreline does not tell the tale.
The London club sealed their progression to the quarter-finals with goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the second period of extra time as their Portuguese opponents wilted late after a marathon match.
Nkunku restored Chelsea’s lead, which they coughed up with a stoppage time penalty, after he mopped up a ricochet following shot from Moisés Caicedo, who was awarded player of the match.
Neto and Dewsbury-Hall then blew out the margin, perhaps flattering Chelsea as the three-goal blitz came in just nine minutes as the pace of the game rapidly sped up after the weather forced everyone to stay patient for a long time.
With Chelsea leading 1-0 and four minutes of regulation time remaining, referee Slavko Vincic marched both sides to the dressing rooms, where they remained for 115 minutes before an insane restart.
The threat of lightning had subsided but the match sparked to life with VAR awarding a penalty to Benfica for an unlucky handball in the box against Chelsea substitute Malo Gusto.
The French defender was in mid air having jumped for a header and was facing away from the ball, but it brushed his hand.
Angel di Maria, the Argentine World Cup winner, then slotted home a 95th minute penalty, his fourth goal of the tournament from the spot to lead the golden boot race and extend the match to extra time.
Just as the momentum felt with the Portuguese side, they handed back to their English Premier League opponents with substitute Gianluca Prestianni shown a second yellow card for crashing into the ankles of Levi Colwill with his studs up just two minutes into extra time.
They were reduced to ten men but still managed to threaten on the counter attack in the first phase before Chelsea caught fire.
Chelsea’s players and manager Enzo Maresca must have been livid with the whole situation as Benfica appeared to be out on their feet before the weather delay.
Stormy weather across the east coast of the United States impacted five group matches but this was the first knockout game to be impacted, and it left everyone frustrated.
Fans inside the stadium booed as the players headed for the dressing rooms, while Chelsea great John Mikel Obi said on DAZN to “just finish it, the five minutes it took to get everyone off, it could have been done”.
Chelsea had been extremely wasteful until James snuck an his free kick past Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin at the near post.
The right-back deceived his opponents expertly as he shaped up to send a cross to the far post from the dead ball on the left wing, but saw an opening and took it to put the ball into the back of the net.
James’ strike came four minutes after the hour mark and was welcome relief for Maresca, who was visibly frustrated on the sidelines, as several brilliant saves from Trubin and other instances of desperate defending denied the Premier League side.
For all Benfica’s determination, it took a moment of brilliance from the Chelsea captain to break them in the pre-weather delay phase of the game.
The 25-year-old England international was almost joined on the scoresheet by new signing Liam Delap but the offside flag came up as the former Ipswich Town forward danced around the last line of defence and Trubin before putting the ball in the back of the net.
Delap, James and Enzo Fernandez were substituted immediately afterwards in the 80th minute.
Maresca is still searching for answers in attack as Delap settles into a new system but outside of Cole Palmer’s solid showing, which included creating the play that led to their second goal, and James’ free kick heroics, no one looked particularly threatening until late in the game.
The Italian manager has an incredibly young side at his disposal, when defender Tosin Adarabioyo came off the bench in the 70th minute, he became the oldest player to appear for Chelsea this season, at just 27 years of age.
The youth policy is set to develop even further with news circulating before kick-off that Chelsea have agreed in principle for 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens, who they hoped to initially sign before departing for the United States.
Substitute Paulinho scored an extra-time winner to settle a Brazilian battle of attrition as Palmeiras edged Botafogo 1-0 on Saturday to win through to the Club World Cup quarter-finals.
The winger came on at the same time in the second half as Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira withdrew teenage sensation Estevao Willian, a move that appeared baffling at the time but ultimately proved inspired.
The tie had reached the 100th minute when Paulinho collected a pass by Richard Rios on the right flank and was afforded the time and space to come inside into the box before slotting a low shot into the far corner.
That sparked wild celebrations among the Palmeiras fans who made up the vast majority of the 33,657 crowd inside Lincoln Financial Field, and the side from Sao Paulo held on to win the last-16 showdown despite having captain Gustavo Gomez sent off late on.
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