Palmer puts Chelsea on top of the world

Cole Palmer scored two goals and made another as Chelsea stunned Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the Club World Cup on Sunday, beating the European champion 3-0 at the MetLife Stadium to win the first edition of FIFA's new competition.

PSG was the favorite after coming to the United States fresh from winning the UEFA Champions League and having destroyed Real Madrid 4-0 in the semifinals.

But, having been three goals ahead midway through the first half in the semis, this time the roles were reversed as PSG found itself 3-0 down by the break.

Palmer opened the scoring midway through the first half and struck again to make it two on the half-hour mark, before taking advantage of passive defending to set up Joao Pedro for the third on 43 minutes.

A bad day for PSG got worse when Joao Neves was shown a red card following a VAR review four minutes from the end for pulling Marc Cucurella by the hair off the ball.

It was a scoreline that few could have predicted, as Chelsea capped what has been a long, but memorable season — it is the first ever winner of the 32-team Club World Cup, having also won the UEFA Conference League and finished fourth in the Premier League.

It will also take away around $125 million in prize money, meaning the prospect of a drastically curtailed summer break before returning for next season will surely feel worth it.

For PSG, meanwhile, the financial rewards are similar, but there will be genuine disappointment at falling short of adding this title to its Champions League triumph and French league and cup double.

Nevertheless, conquering Europe was always the main aim this season for Luis Enrique's team, which now has exactly a month to digest this and take a holiday before returning to action in the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur.

Ice-Cole

Temperatures soared above 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 C) in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but the Chelsea talisman, showed why he is nicknamed "Ice-Cole" Palmer, as he bagged two goals in eight first half-minutes.

He also earned the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. The man of the match in its 4-1 Conference League final win over Real Betis in May, Palmer showed again that he does his best work under the biggest spotlight.

"I like finals. It's happened again," he told DAZN.

"It's a great feeling," he added. "Even better because everyone doubted us before the game, we knew that. To put a fight on like we did, it's good."

A product of the Manchester City academy, Palmer made his senior debut with the team in September 2020 but never received the minutes on the pitch he believed he deserved, moving to Chelsea three years later with the promise of more playing time.

He wasted no time becoming Chelsea's new hero, firing in goals in his first season with the club, and Sunday's final marked another chapter in his success story, with Man City long ago eliminated from the tournament in the round of 16.

He destroyed PSG's defense in a sensational first half on Sunday, running up and down the right channel, before slotting in a tidy left-footed goal in the 22nd minute.

He doubled the score eight minutes later, again targeting the bottom-left corner of the goal, as the legions of blue-clad Chelsea fans erupted in elation.

"Today, we found a position for him where there was more space to attack," said Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca. "Obviously, Cole played really well, but the effort from all the players was fantastic."

There was even the first-ever halftime show at a FIFA tournament, adding a Super Bowl feel to a final, being played at the home of NFL sides the New York Giants and New York Jets.

As for the soccer, for the second time in six weeks PSG found itself involved in a final that quickly turned into a one-sided affair.

Palmer almost put Chelsea ahead inside the opening 10 minutes, before PSG should have scored at the other end, only for Desire Doue to try to pass to Achraf Hakimi rather than shoot inside the box, allowing Cucurella to block.

Palmer, though, didn't have to wait long for his opener, as Malo Gusto got the better of Nuno Mendes down the right, before seeing his shot blocked by Lucas Beraldo. The ball came back to Gusto, and he teed up Palmer to finish.

Palmer has been the face of Chelsea on billboards in the United States during the tournament, and he lived up to his star billing in the final.

Released on the right with PSG left-back Mendes out of position, Palmer advanced towards the box before stroking his second, a low shot, into the same corner as his first.

Pedro played a part in the build-up to that goal, and the Brazilian, signed during the tournament from Brighton, then got his name on the scoresheet to make it 3-0.

Scorer of both goals against Fluminense in the semifinals, he clipped a shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma after being supplied by Palmer.

PSG had only conceded a single goal in its previous eight matches, and it never really looked like producing a comeback, despite Neves heading just wide in first-half stoppage time.

Agencies