Before a ball was kicked at Metlife Stadium, the story about the Fluminen VS Chelsea game about a reunion for Thiago Silva and his old team was.
The experienced Brazilian had helped to guide his side to the moving distance of a club World Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid, and as the football gods would decide, he should pass the West London people to do this.
Fluminense against it before a ball was kicked
In almost 41 years old, Silva was the older (outfield) statesman of the tournament, although goalkeeper Fabio was 44 years old and 281 days old, the oldest player was the oldest player to start a FIFA Club World Cup match.
The starting XI of Fluminense was also the oldest on the CWC, with an average age of 31 years and 263 days, which means that the Brazilians should work extra hard if they wanted to earn a final berth.
Enzo Maresca had made three changes to the team that defeated Palmeiras in the quarterfinals, who was responsible for what he did during the tournament to keep the blues fresh and hungry.
Three shots in the first 11 minutes of the Premier League side suggested that they meant things and as a spectacle the game had already become a great watch because both parties were combined to complete all except six of the first 154 passages in the match.
Joao Pedro Strike surprised the crowd
In the 18th minute, the former Fluminen Aas Joao Pedro surprised the crowd while he bowed a beautiful shot home. The deception of Pedro Neto saw him get a dangerous cross in the box, and unfortunately for Thiago Silva his bad attempt at approval was entitled to Joao Pedro's feet.
A goal to relieve every match, and when the CWC is scored, Chelsea had avoided the defeat in their last three games.
Apart from their own goals, Chelsea's last nine at the tournament also scored by nine different players, which indicates a healthy attacking output of the front line and additional attackers.
They kept bringing the game to their opponents, although it would be Fluminense that would come closest to the score.
Fluminen US Chelsea Momentum Shiftopta perform by statistics
Hercules must have thought that he had done exactly that after the ball had broken past Robert Sanchez, but the keeper had an alert Marc Cucurella to thank on 25 while he cleaned up the line and stopped a certain goal.
10 minutes later the official admitted a penalty after Trevoh Chalobah had treated in the area, although the defender was lucky to escape after a Var evaluation had assessed his arm in a natural position and the decision was reversed.
Jhon Ariaas Too bad to see his side again admitted
The second half started in almost the same way, although the Jhon Arias van Fluminense dictated the game and created his 18 chances – including two in this game – are most at the tournament so far.
Within 10 minutes after the restart, the game was over as a match, with Joao Pedro again on the score sheet while he hit one after he was liberated by the big pass from Enzo Fernandez.
The dominance of Chelsea was clear when they controlled the possession (65.4%) in the first 15 minutes of the second half, with 50.8% of the action that took place in Fluminense's third of the pitch.
The influence of Pedro Neto was marked and after completing his fourth dribble of the day later in half, it cost its total at 18 at the tournament, more than any other player.
Joao Pedro Target Squareopta Performing Statistics
For everyone who thinks that this competition is not really important for the players involved, one only needs to check Cole Palmer's reaction with slightly more than 10 to play.
Nicolas Jackson, completely unark in the middle of the area and with the aim of gaping, Nicolas Jackson decided to shoot from a tight corner instead of going to Palmer. The international of England quickly informed the striker his thoughts as he made the position in frustration.
Chalobah a colossus in the Chelsea back line
Fortunately, the missed opportunity had no effect on the outcome of the game from the position of Chelsea, not least because of the sparkle of Chalobah in defense.
The 26-year-old completed all 54 of his fitting attempts, and at the CWC only Jonathan Tah has a better 100% Record-67 completed passes for Bayern Munich against Boca Juniors.
The result means that since 2019, Chelsea has reached their fifth international final (exclusive super cups) and each wins of the previous four.
For Fluminense, Hercules can feel a bit hurt. Two more tackles against the blues gave him 10 tackles won in the tournament, similar to Fran Garcia for the second most in the competition.
Huff and Puff but no quality of Fluminense
Eventually 12 shots from the Brazilian team to the 17 of Chelsea only showed a lack of quality for the goal of Fluminense's Front Men.
Although the West Londoners had more possession and had a slightly better pass -together (90.5% to 88.1%), Fluminense won more crosses in the box, won more dribbles and won, perhaps considerably, much more tackles (16 to 9) than the Stamford Bridge outfit.
Fluminen US chelsea match statistics perform statistics
When everything is said and done, they would not advance enough.
Rene's three details in the Chelsea box were the most their joints, compared to eight of Christopher Nunku only for the blues.
In short, there seemed to be a lot of Huff and Puff from Renato Gaucho, but when it mattered, they could not perform the way of their former player – and that was the difference on the day.