Chelsea responded well to their loss against Flamengo by easing past Espérance de Tunis 3-0 at Lincoln Financial Field, booking their place in the last 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup. It was their fifth win in six games, and once again, they kept a clean sheet.
On what turned out to be the hottest day in Philadelphia since 1994, a rotated Chelsea team, missing Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto, had a slow start against a solid Espérance defence. The Tunisian side looked more comfortable in the heat and threatened going forward, but neither team created many clear chances in a quiet first half. Chelsea’s Liam Delap had the first shot on target after 15 minutes, but his effort from outside the box was easily saved by Espérance keeper Bechir Ben Saïd.
Ben Saïd had to work harder to stop Josh Acheampong’s low shot later on, but he couldn’t do anything about Tosin Adarabioyo’s header in first-half stoppage time. Chelsea had looked most dangerous from set-pieces, and Tosin took full advantage of being left unmarked from Enzo Fernández’s corner.
Going behind was a big blow for Espérance, who rarely score in games where both teams find the net. Things got worse for them shortly after the break, when Delap used his strength and skill to beat two defenders and score his first goal for Chelsea with a tidy finish into the far corner.
