Al-Hilal 0-1 Chelsea: Blues scrape past Saudi side for chance to lift Club World Cup

2 years ago 24

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Last updated on 19 minutes ago.From the section Chelsea

Chelsea will meet Brazilian side Palmeiras in the Club World Cup final after edging past Al-Hilal at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Romelu Lukaku scored the only goal in the first half.

The Blues will now look to lift the only trophy that has evaded them across Roman Abramovich's 19-year ownership of the club.

Boss Thomas Tuchel missed the game as he was isolating after testing positive for Covid-19.

Chelsea dominated from the start against the Saudi Arabian side, and their breakthrough came from Lukaku just after the half-hour mark.

Kai Havertz's left-wing cross was inadvertently headed into the Belgian's path by Yasser Al Shahrani, and he rifled home from point-blank range.

It was Lukaku's ninth goal of the season and ended a six-game drought, after he missed a couple of opportunities earlier in the match.

Two minutes after the break, Havertz burst through on goal and clipped the post from a tight angle, despite having Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech for support in the area.

Asian Champions Al-Hilal barely threatened until Mohamed Kanno shot over from distance after combining well with former West Bromwich Albion midfielder Matheus Pereira.

Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga then denied Moussa Marega from eight yards out, while Odion Ighalo and Kanno saw shots blocked as Chelsea struggled to put the game to bed.

But the European Champions held on in the end and on Saturday will have the chance to avenge defeat in this competition a decade after their last appearance.

Line-ups

Al-Hilal

Formation 4-1-4-1

1Al Mayoof
2Al Burayk
20Jang Hyun-Soo
5Al BulayhiBooked at 84mins
12Al Shahrani
6CuéllarBooked at 66mins
17Marega
28Kanno
15Costa PereiraSubstituted forDelgado de Oliveiraat 82'minutes
29Al DawsariSubstituted forCarrilloat 82'minutes
9Ighalo

Substitutes

11Al Shehri
13Al Obaid
19Carrillo
21Al Owais
32Al Mufarrij
33Al Jadani
43Al Juwayr
66Abdul Hamid
70Jahfali
88Al Tuhayfan Al Yami
96Delgado de Oliveira

Chelsea

Formation 3-4-2-1

1Arrizabalaga
4Christensen
6Thiago Silva
2Rüdiger
28Azpilicueta
5JorginhoSubstituted forKantéat 45'minutes
8KovacicBooked at 81mins
3AlonsoSubstituted forSarrat 87'minutes
22ZiyechSubstituted forMountat 72'minutes
29Havertz
9Lukaku

Substitutes

7Kanté
10Pulisic
11Werner
13Bettinelli
14Chalobah
16Mendy
17Saúl
18Barkley
19Mount
20Hudson-Odoi
23Kenedy
31Sarr

Referee:César Arturo Ramos Palazuelos

Live Text

Match ends, Al-Hilal 0, Chelsea 1.
Second Half ends, Al-Hilal 0, Chelsea 1.
Foul by Andreas Christensen (Chelsea).
Odion Ighalo (Al-Hilal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Al-Hilal. Mohammed Al Burayk tries a through ball, but Moussa Marega is caught offside.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Gustavo Cuéllar.
Substitution, Chelsea. Malang Sarr replaces Marcos Alonso.
Foul by Mason Mount (Chelsea).
Yaseer Al Shahrani (Al-Hilal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea).
Gustavo Cuéllar (Al-Hilal) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Ali Al Bulayhi (Al-Hilal) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Al-Hilal. Michael replaces Matheus Pereira.
Substitution, Al-Hilal. André Carrillo replaces Salem Al Dawsari.
Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea).
Salem Al Dawsari (Al-Hilal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Mohamed Kanno.
Attempt blocked. Mason Mount (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Romelu Lukaku.
Foul by César Azpilicueta (Chelsea).