By: Osabuohien Imuetinyanosa
Cole Palmer created a scintillating first-half masterclass as Chelsea crushed Paris St Germain 3-0 to win the Club World Cup final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The English attacking midfielder scored twice and provided an assist for Joao Pedro in a devastating display in the revamped tournament’s decider that left the European and French champions, who finished with 10 men, shell-shocked before the break.
Chelsea struck first in the 22nd minute when PSG fullback Nuno Mendes gifted possession to Malo Gusto. While his initial effort was blocked by Mendes, Gusto collected the rebound and found Palmer unmarked in the middle and the midfielder made no mistake, slotting a tidy finish just inside the left post.
Palmer doubled the lead after the 30th-minute cooling break with a goal of sublime quality. Latching onto a precise through ball from Levi Colwill, he cut inside before faking a pass to dummy a defender and firing into the bottom-left corner.
Palmer then turned provider, running up the channel before finding Joao Pedro, who took the ball in his stride and beat the offside trap before chipping his finish beautifully over keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG’s misery was completed when Joao Neves was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair in the 83rd minute.
PSG Luis Enriqué in a pre-match interview envisioned an interesting match for both sides but turned out a devastating one for champions league team. In the end the frustration almost took another scene after the match but officials took control of the scene. The ceremony began with the best player award in the tournament and Man of the Match award which went to Cole Palmer. Meanwhile FIFA Young Player Award went to the best player under 21 years of age at the start of the calendar year: From PSG -Désiré Doué, and finally the golden glove award was to Chelsea’s goalkeeper: Robert Sánchez for his outstanding performance all through the tournament, thereafter the mendal awards followed. (Sportsday).
