Their place in the last four of the Club World Cup in the bag and the prospect of a £97m windfall still up for grabs, Chelsea found themselves in an unusual position: relieved to have survived a taxing second half, hailing Malo Gusto’s unlikely role as match-winner and able to delight in the opposition’s goalscorer being named superior player of the match.
For a while the story of this entertaining quarter-final looked like it was going to be about Enzo Maresca finding it within himself to forgive Estêvão. Everything had changed when the Brazilian sensation, who joins Chelsea after this tournament, cancelled out an early goal from Cole Palmer and hauled Palmeiras level at the start of the second half.
