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It must be tough to play free-flowing football when it feels as if the game is being staged in an airless hotel room and nobody knows how to turn off the central heating. Chelsea nonetheless managed to keep their cool in suffocating conditions in Philadelphia, securing their place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup thanks to a composed 3-0 victory over Espérance.
This was a positive night for Enzo Maresca, who encountered few problems after trusting his second string to see off the Tunisian champions. Liam Delap scored his first goal for his new club and although Chelsea finished behind Flamengo in Group D there are benefits to going through in second place. After all a date with Bayern Munich on Saturday has been swerved, albeit more by luck than judgment after Benfica took advantage of Vincent Kompany’s disastrous attempt at rotation by nabbing top spot in Group C with a shock 1-0 win over the German champions on Tuesday afternoon.
Of course, Chelsea should not take anything for granted when they head to Charlotte to face Benfica, who are experienced competitors at Champions League level. Equally, though, the picture does look rosier than after last Friday’s ragged 3-1 defeat to Flamengo. A humiliating early exit has been avoided and Maresca will be pleased to have rested Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill, Pedro Neto and Reece James against opponents as limited as Espérance.
“I am thinking game by game,” Maresca said. “I am not thinking about the final. We know that Benfica is a top club with a top manager and top players. We are in the last 16 and the target for us is to be in the quarter-finals.
“We expected the process with Liam to be quite quick because he knows us and we know with him. We know each other very well. The process for him is quite quick. It is also because he is a very good player.”
There was a distinct Conference League group stage vibe to Maresca’s starting 11. He made eight changes, gave Filip Jorgensen a chance in goal, handed Christopher Nkunku his first start in attack since 17 April and caused a meltdown on social media by again finding no place for Andrey Santos in midfield, despite it being fairly standard practice for a manager to ease in a young player who has been with his new teammates for under two weeks.
Maresca pointed out that there are tactical nuances for Santos to absorb. This was Chelsea’s 60th game of a gruelling campaign and if one thing has become clear during Maresca’s first year in charge it is that his system takes time to understand. Malo Gusto inverting from left-back and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall operating on the right wing rather than in central midfield summed up those complexities.
Not that Chelsea carried out the plan well at first. Was it the consequence of the heatwave making it impossible to train properly? It was still 35C by kick-off at Lincoln Financial Field and the added treat of high humidity levels made it hard for Chelsea.
The first 10 minutes were lethargic. Tosin Adarabioyo headed wide from a corner, but Espérance soon found gaps at the other end. Gusto was caught out of position, only for the defender to race back to deny Elias Mokwana, and there was more concern when Yan Sasse got behind Josh Acheampong on the opposite flank.
Chelsea responded with Nkunku finding Delap, who turned and shot at Bechir Ben Said from 20 yards. They began to dominate and almost scored when Enzo Fernandez combined with Gusto on the left. Dewsbury-Hall should have done better with a free header. Ben Said, looking increasingly suspect, then got away with spilling a shot from Acheampong. Enzo Fernandez whacked a volley wide after good play from Noni Madueke, who was Chelsea’s most dynamic player during the first half.
Nkunku, who has struggled for form and fitness, drifted into pockets of space. Perhaps Maresca can still find a use for the forward if no buyer for the France international emerges this summer. Nkunku certainly has his merits, particularly in the opposition box. It is more that he continues to look out of place in this setup.
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Yet Chelsea were pressing as half-time approached. Espérance were not up to much. They cracked when Acheampong drove forward during stoppage-time and won a free-kick on the right. Fernandez crossed and Tosin guided in a clever header.
Pressure lifted, Chelsea pushed again before the interval, the advantage doubled when Delap swivelled on the left, barrelled into the area and shot with his right instep. Ben Said, weirdly, did little but stand rooted to his line, making no attempt at a save despite the ball rolling in fairly centrally, like an outfield player having a reluctant turn in goal during a casual five-a-side game.
Chelsea controlled the second half. Madueke and Nkunku shot narrowly wide; Tyrique George and Marc Guiu came on and were thwarted by Ben Said. Maresca was content and withdrew Delap, giving the striker a breather given that Nicolas Jackson will still be unavailable against Benfica after his red card against Flamengo.
There was even a late runout for Santos, who appeared to have made a swift impact when his shot was handled and a penalty was awarded, only for the decision to be overturned after a VAR review.
It made no difference. Flamengo will face Bayern after drawing 1-1 with Los Angeles FC. Chelsea still eased into the knockout stages, earning £7m in the process, gloss added to the scoreline when Ben Said failed to deal with a powerful shot from George from long range.
