Chelsea Bear Fluminense To Reach Club World Cup Final
New signing Joao Pedro netted a brace on his first start as Chelsea defeated Fluminense 2-0 on Tuesday to seal a spot in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup.
Pedro opened the scoring in the first half of the last-four clash and got on the score sheet again shortly before the hour mark.
He broke the deadlock on 18 minutes after controlling the ball on the edge of the box after Silva had cleared a Pedro Neto cross and curled a shot beyond veteran goalkeeper Fabio into the far corner.
Fluminense were then awarded a penalty 10 minutes before the interval when a set-piece delivery by Rene struck the arm of Trevoh Chalobah in the box.
However, French referee Francois Letexier overturned the decision following a VAR check.
Chelsea got their second on 56 minutes, just after Fluminense had sacrificed one of their three centre-backs to send on an extra attacker.
Enzo Fernandez released Pedro on the break, and the forward who scored 10 goals in the Premier League last season for Brighton produced another clinical finish in off the bar.
Signed from Brighton and Hove Albion just last week for a reported £60 million the 23-year-old Brazilian striker cut short an off-season holiday and made his debut off the bench in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Palmeiras.
He was then handed his first Chelsea start up front against Fluminense in place of the suspended Liam Delap.