BLUE PLANET
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH is used to getting what he wants.
And finally, at the second time of asking, the Russian owner and his club had that feeling of being on top of the world.
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Abramovich, who rarely sees Chelsea these days, was in the crowd here in the United Arab Emirates to see the team complete the full set of club trophies.
It was thanks to a superbly-struck penalty in the second period of extra-time from Kai Havertz when spot-kicks were looming.
From the Premier League to the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. From the Champions League to the Uefa Super Cup and now, the FIFA Club World Cup.
Chelsea have bagged the lot and this was a special moment for club captain Cesar Azpilcueta who has winners' medals from all of those competitions which is an unbelievable achievement, for any player.
The Blues were playing against a team from the same country - even the same city - but at least they got a different result.
The last European team to fail to win this competition were Chelsea in 2012, when they lost to Corinthians, city neighbours of Palmeiras.
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So it would have been a bit embarrassing if the Blues had failed again even though we do not take this competition anywhere near as seriously as the South Americans.
The impressive Antonio Rudiger, a player who could be off at the end of the season as he is out of contact, fell to his knees on the final whistle. Havertz was bundled over by his team-mates.
It took quite a lot to silence Palmeiras’ brilliant support, who celebrated an equaliser from the penalty spot by Raphael Vega who cancelled out Romelu Lukaku’s opener.
Yet when Havertz sent keeper Weverton the wrong way, with three minutes of extra-time left, the 15,000 Brazilian fans fell silent.
And those 1000 or so Chelsea fans were rewarded for making the journey out to the Middle East, although their journey was nothing like the Brazilians'.
With the game looking set for spot-kicks, you wondered whether Thomas Tuchel had wished Kepa Arrizabalaga, a penalty expert, was on the pitch.
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But instead keeper Eduoard Mendy bagged became a world champion just a week after he led Senegal to their first AFCON title.
Chelsea manager Tuchel, who only arrived the night before after ending his isolation due to Covid 19, could not stop grinning afterwards.
He has another Cup final in a couple of weeks against Liverpool but his team will have to play better than this.
Chelsea were not at their best, which has been the story of their season so far. They had most of the possession but in the final third, did seem to run out of ideas.
Mason Mount looked a threat but went off injured after 30 minutes and looked absolutely gutted.
Chelsea were restricted to long range potshots and scored with their first decent attack 10 minutes into the second half.
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Mateo Kovacic deserves credit for accelerating past an opponent and he fed Hudson-Odoi whose cross from the left was perfect for Lukaku.
He timed his jump above defender Luan to deliver a header which Weverton was never going to get near.
Chelsea looked good value to get a second but Palmeiras clawed their way back into the game thanks to VAR which spotted a handball from Silva while he jumped for the ball.
Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta still complained about the decision, even though it seemed pretty clear, with midfielder Raphael Veiga sending Mendy the wrong way.
The equaliser caused utter carnage in the stands and Tuchel could see that his team had started to lose confidence.
Strangely, Tuchel decided to replace Lukaku, even though the Belgian had brought his tally to the season for 10, with Timo Werner getting a chance.
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This was the first FIFA tournament where technology, known as ‘robot offside’ was being used to help the linesmen but some of the decisions seemed a bit odd.
In the first half of extra-time, Werner looked absolutely miles offside when he crossed for Christian Pulisic whose shot was deflected onto the woodwork.
Yet a goal would have stood as a corner was given and Palmeiras will have been bloody furious, robots or not.
Chelsea took control in extra-time and for the second time VAR intervened when it spotted that Luan handled a shot from Azpilicueta.
The Palmeiras no 13 seemed a bit unlucky as there was not a lot he could do about it but it was handball. Havertz sent the keeper the wrong way.
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The night got even worse for Luan when he was handed a straight red for a professional foul on Havertz in the final seconds but it made no difference to the game.
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Chelsea were already certain to join Manchester United and Liverpool as winners of this competition.
And now, back in west London, they will have to find a bit more space for their rammed trophy cabinet.
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