New York [US], July 14 : Chelsea won the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup 2025 by defeating French champions Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 with a superb first-half performance, in New Jersey on Monday.
Favourites PSG had not let up a goal in their previous four games heading into the final of the men's football tournament, but they found themselves behind in the 22nd minute, when Cole Palmer controlled a clever layoff from Malo Gusto before bending a sumptuous effort into the far corner, giving Chelsea the early breakthrough, according to Olymipcs.com.
Eight minutes later, the 23-year-old doubled Chelsea's lead; this time latching on to a ball from deep and, with the same ice-cool precision, bent it into the far corner once again. Copy, paste.
And just when PSG thought they'd contained the threat, Palmer morphed into a creator. A slide-rule pass split the defence, freeing João Pedro, who applied a touch of Brazilian mischief to delicately lift the ball over a helpless Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The half-time break couldn't come fast enough for PSG, who had struggled to deal with Chelsea's intense press all evening.
The second half was less eventful than the first, which included the first-ever half-time show at a FIFA-organised event, with performances from Coldplay, Doja Cat, J Balvin, and Tems.
Both managers made adjustments, but PSG, the European champions, were especially desperate for a way out. However, Chelsea's Liam Delap, who came on for Pedro, twice made Donnarumma make amazing saves, which kept the scoreline respectable.
PSG finished the game with 10 men after João Neves received a straight red card for pulling Marc Cucurella's hair five minutes from time.
Chelsea added the Club World Cup trophy to the UEFA Conference League trophy they won back in May, capping off an impressive debut season for Italian Maresca at Stamford Bridge.
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