Chelsea shocked Paris Saint-Germain at the MetLife Stadium as Enzo Maresca’s side dished out a 3-0 beating in the Club World Cup final. The Blues were by far the better side against the Champions League holders, with Cole Palmer grabbing headlines at the top end of the pitch and Robert Sanchez putting in a remarkable display between the sticks.
As the inaugural winners of the revamped FIFA competition, Chelsea will bank an estimated £92million for going all the way in the USA. They are therefore flying high in more ways than one as the domestic campaign closes in. Here, Express Sport takes you through how each Chelsea player performed…
Chelsea player ratings vs PSG (4-3-3)
Robert Sanchez: 10
One of the most complete goalkeeping performances you’ll see anywhere, any time. Made countless saves in the first half and a boatload more in the second. The Spaniard produced particularly eye-catching stops to deny Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele, before tipping a long-range Vitinha strike wide. Oh, and he played a brilliant ball up to Malo Gusto before Palmer’s opener.
Malo Gusto: 7
Great tenacity in a one-on-one battle with Nuno Mendes which saw him win the ball and play a pivotal role in Palmer’s opening goal.
Trevoh Chalobah: 7
A reasonably quiet game but solid nonetheless, and came up with a decent interception to thwart a low cross early in the second half.
Levi Colwill: 8
Didn’t do enough to stop a Fabian Ruiz cross coming in early in the game which should have resulted in a Doue goal. Made up for it by keeping a clean sheet, playing a measured ball over the top to assist Palmer’s second, and stretching out a leg to stop a dangerous ball into the box late on.
Marc Cucurella: 7
Contributed to Chelsea’s clean sheet and was probably the only person in the stadium who read Doue’s cutback and intercepted when the youngster looked certain to shoot from point-blank range. Then came an unusual incident when PSG went down to 10 with minutes to play after Joao Neves pulled the Spaniard’s hair.
Reece James: 7 (Dewsbury-Hall, 77)
Helped shut down a PSG midfield which was borderline unplayable last season. Workmanlike throughout and composed when playing through the press.
Moises Caicedo: 7
Was one of the standout players when Chelsea came racing out of the blocks, always looking forward with his passes and being aggressive. Let himself down by picking up a silly booking for kicking a ball away.
Enzo Fernandez: 6 (Andrey Santos, 61)
Had a brilliant tournament but a quiet final before limping off on the hour mark.
Cole Palmer: 9
Two almost identical left-footed goals into the bottom corner to Gianluigi Donnarumma’s right, and then a classy assist for Joao Pedro. The only reason it’s not a perfect 10 is because he spurned a great chance from the edge of the box inside eight minutes.
Joao Pedro: 8 (Delap, 67)
Flair, trickery, excitement. It wasn’t effective 100 per cent of the time but it was good to watch. Laid one on a plate for Palmer with a brilliant flick but the Englishman missed. Then came up with his third goal of the tournament, dinking Donnarumma as he came rushing out.
Pedro Neto: 7 (Nkunku, 77)
Put in a shift on a hot day. Slotted into left wing-back while out of possession, where he took care of his defensive duties. Did fumble a promising attack with a poor cross, though.
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Andrey Santos: 6
Didn’t make the kind of impact he would have liked to given he had half an hour off the bench.
Liam Delap: 7
Quite the opposite of Andrey Santos in that he made his presence known immediately. Had Donnarumma scrambling after a great run and strike from distance, then was denied again by the Italian from close range.
Christopher Nkunku: N/A
A late addition.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: N/A
A late addition.
