Cole Palmer scored twice and assisted as Chelsea defeated Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 to win the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday. Palmer scored in the 22nd and 30th minutes, and Joao Pedro scored a third before halftime after Palmer passed inside the area.
In his best tournament performance, goalie Robert Sanchez made six key saves. Chelsea, victors of the 2021 Club World Cup with eight teams, went to the final following tough wins against Benfica, Palmeiras, and Fluminense. They met PSG, who had won their first UEFA Champions League six weeks earlier.
PSG goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma saved two of five attempts on target as the French team, which had allowed only once in their previous six tournament matches, battled defensively.
In the 85th minute, Joao Neves was sent off for yanking Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella by the hair, causing PSG to go down to 10 men.
PSG coach Luis Enrique seemed to grip Joao Pedro by the neck when approaching Chelsea players with Donnarumma after the whistle.
Cucurella made a crucial defensive move in the 16th minute to preserve the score equal. Désiré Doué’s centring ball from Fabian Ruiz’s cross was superbly intercepted by Cucurella, preventing a goal. After missing with a left-footed shot in the eighth minute, Palmer scored six minutes later.
Malo Gusto drove into the box as Nuno Mendes miskept a header. He assisted Palmer, who scored a low left-footed finish into the bottom corner after a smart dribble and shot being stopped and rebounded.
After Levi Colwill’s long pass, Palmer extended Chelsea’s lead. After methodically dribbling around the penalty box, he fired a similar low shot into the bottom left corner. Palmer passed between two defenders to Pedro, who blasted over Donnarumma to make it 3-0 in the 43rd minute.
Sanchez completed Chelsea’s dominance with two second-half saves, diving to save Neves’ header in stoppage time and reflexing to thwart Ousmane Dembele from close range.
