Chelsea Cruise into Club World Cup Last 16

Chelsea have booked their place in the last 16 of the Club World Cup with a convincing 3-0 win over Esperance Tunis in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Despite sweltering temperatures on Wednesday, 25 June, coach Enzo Maresca’s rotated side delivered a solid performance to recover from their defeat to Flamengo earlier in the group stages.

Tosin Adarabioyo opened the scoreboard with a well-placed header three minutes into first-half stoppage time before Liam Delap – a recent £30-million transfer from Ipswich – scored his first goal for the Blues with a composed finish just two minutes later.

Enzo Fernandez, captaining in Reece James’ absence, provided assists for the first two goals and dictated play in midfield. To secure the win, substitute Tyrique George added a third goal seven minutes into added time as the scoreboard leaders eased to victory.

Reflecting on Delap’s impact, Maresca said: “We expected the process with Liam to be quite quick … he is a very good player.”

With Nicolas Jackson still suspended, Delap’s emergence is timely as Chelsea aim to push deeper into the tournament and reach the quarter-finals.

The English team finished second in Group D behind Flamengo, and now face Benfica in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday, 28 June.

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