Chelsea will play Benfica in the last 16 of the Club World Cup in Charlotte on Saturday after Liam Delap’s first goal for the club helped them beat ES Tunis in their final Group D match.

After a scrappy opening 45 minutes, Tosin Adarabioyo’s header from an Enzo Fernandez free kick put them ahead in added time and Delap effectively wrapped up their progress before the whistle for the interval when he turned smartly on the edge of the box and beat goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said.

A much-changed Chelsea were awarded a second-half penalty when Andrey Santos’ shot hit the arm of Yassine Meriah but as Christopher Nkunku waited to take it, the decision was overturned by VAR. Tyrique George, the 19-year-old winger, eventually made it 3-0 with the final shot of the game, which Ben Said fumbled into the net.

Nkunku reacts after the decision to award a penalty is overturned (Francois Nel/Getty Images)

By finishing second in Group D, Chelsea are now on the opposite side of the draw to Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, should the latter win a group they currently lead on Thursday. The winners of the west Londoners’ game with Benfica will face one of Brazilian pair Botafogo and Palmeiras for a spot in the semi-finals.

The Athletic’s Liam Twomey and Larry Henry analyse the key talking points.

How good was Delap’s first Chelsea goal?

For much of a tepid first half, Delap was Chelsea’s likeliest route to a breakthrough, his bustling runs flirting with the first goal for his new team that the gods of narrative seemed to have ordained after fellow striker Nicolas Jackson removed himself from the equation for this match and the next one with that incomprehensible red-card tackle in the Flamengo game on Friday.

When it arrived with the final act of the first half, it showcased everything the new signing from Ipswich Town is capable of adding to this Chelsea team: strength, solo skill and composure when it counts.

His take on the half-turn was impressive enough: a deft touch on his right thigh while rotating his body to shield the ball from one ES Tunis defender. The second and third touches, arriving in quick succession, removed another opponent from his path and reduced Ben Said to a spectator before anyone else on the pitch or in the stands realised what was happening.

 

The decisiveness Delap showed is what Chelsea have been hoping to consistently draw out of summer 2003 buy Jackson, and what Maresca’s attack badly needs to avoid becoming bogged down. The resistance he encountered on Tuesday night from the serial Tunisian champions may have been far from elite, but the control and calm he displayed to exploit it most certainly were.

Not as memorably but just as importantly, Delap delivered on his promise to keep his aggression in check, avoiding the yellow card that would have seen him suspended for the round of 16 tie in the event Chelsea advanced. With an eye on that match, Maresca felt comfortable enough to withdraw him, to rapturous applause from the Chelsea supporters in attendance, just before the hour mark.

Benfica will be a significant step up in class but with Delap making an immediate impact at the point of attack, Maresca should be more confident of Chelsea converting any chances that come their way.

Liam Twomey

Did Maresca get his changes right?

Chelsea’s head coach never fully explained why he decided to use a crunch middle Group D clash against Flamengo to try “something completely different” tactically with an eye on next season. His logic for making eight changes to that team for the finale with ES Tunis was at least easier to understand.

“We have played every three days and with these conditions (the heat), we wanted to give time for rest and recovery,” he said before the game. “The ones that are out are also very tired.”

Not that it lessened the risk to his credibility. Maresca placed his trust, and the responsibility of avoiding the unlikely defeat that would have sent Chelsea home before the knockout rounds, largely in his reserves. On the stroke of half-time in Philadelphia’s sweltering Lincoln Financial Field, they delivered the attacking burst that validated his faith.

The game quickly settled into a predictable pattern: Chelsea dominating possession in the opposition half, while the Tunisians attempted to counter-attack quickly out of their low block whenever they won the ball back. Maresca’s team delivered the extensive control he wanted but it often looked worryingly brittle, with large spaces for midfielder Romeo Lavia to defend in transition.

Tosin Adarabioyo heads in the opening goal (Franck Fife/AFP)

ES Tunis goalkeeper Ben Said was barely called into action until the third minute of first-half stoppage time, when he could only watch Tosin’s guided header creep inside his far post from a pinpoint Fernandez free kick. Two minutes later, he got no closer to keeping out Delap’s calm finish after an excellent take and turn in traffic. And at the end of the night, he let George’s strike through him.

Some might have interpreted his selection as disrespect but, as he so often did in this season’s ultimately triumphant UEFA Conference League campaign, Maresca correctly calibrated the level of threat the opposition would pose, and his reward is that many of his key players have gained valuable recovery time ahead of a weekend date with Portuguese giants Benfica, who beat Bayern earlier on Tuesday to top Group C.

His instinct for prioritising the bigger picture led him astray against Flamengo but served him well here, and a more rested Chelsea advance into a knockout bracket that has unexpectedly presented them with a realistic path to the semi-finals.

Liam Twomey

What can Chelsea expect from Benfica?

Chelsea may have been able to find their groove here, but Group C winners Benfica in the round of 16 will pose a much tougher test.

Benfica edged serial Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich to top spot by one point, beating them 1-0 in the clubs’ group-stage finale on Tuesday, though the Germans had already qualified. Bruno Lage’s men previously came back strongly from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Boca Juniors in their opening match before thumping Auckland City 6-0.

Angel Di Maria, now 37, has contributed a tournament-best three goals in the group stage and will be one threat Chelsea will have to silence, while Greece striker Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored both goals in their 2-1 defeat of England at Wembley last October, brings a physical presence to the attack and has 30 club goals to his name this season across all competitions. Lage’s centre-back pairing of veteran Nicolas Otamendi, 37, and 21-year-old rising talent Antonio Silva has done well in each of the past two matches, too.

While plenty has changed since the two clubs last met, in the 2013 Europa League final (a 2-1 Chelsea win in Amsterdam, thanks to a stoppage-time Branislav Ivanovic goal), expect both to be up for the challenge with $13.1million (£9.6m) in prize money and a quarter-final berth going to the winner.

Larry Henry

What next for Chelsea?

Saturday, June 28: Benfica, Club World Cup round of 16 (Charlotte), 4pm ET, 9pm UK

(Top photo: Emilee Chinn – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)