Chelsea defeated Benfica in a game which went on for close to five hours at the Club World Cup on Saturday to set up a quarter-final showdown with Brazilian side Palmeiras at the tournament in the United States.
Chelsea were grateful to extra-time goals by Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to give them a 4-1 victory over Benfica.
Their late burst of scoring settled a last-16 tie which took four hours, 39 minutes to complete at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina after a near two-hour weather delay.
It marked the sixth occasion during the Club World Cup that a game has been disrupted by a weather warning.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was left satisfied with his team’s victory but slammed the delay that turned the tie into a near five-hour marathon.
Maresca said: “I think it’s a joke, it’s not football.
Chelsea face fixture disruption at Club World Cup
“For 85 minutes we were in control of the game. We created enough chances to win the game. Then after the break, the game changed – for me personally, it’s not football.”
Chelsea will now return to Philadelphia, where they played two games in the group stage, to play Palmeiras in the quarter-finals on Friday.
The Brazilian club were grateful to an extra-time winner by substitute Paulinho as they edged domestic rivals Botafogo 1-0 in a battle of attrition earlier on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
The last-16 action continues on Sunday when European champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) take on Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in Atlanta. Later on Bayern Munich face Flamengo in Miami.
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