Callum Hudson-Odoi's 'quicker' cross into Romelu Lukaku was key in helping Romelu Lukaku show what he can truly do in Chelsea's FIFA Club World Cup final against Brazilian side Palmeiras.
Chelsea are now European and World Champions after a late Kai Havertz penalty in extra time completed the clean sweep of trophies under the Roman Abramovich era with a 2-1 victory.
The Blues were involved in a rather scrappy first-half against Abel Ferreira's side, with neither looking likely to break the deadlock on the night in Abu Dhabi. Half chances were here and there for the pair but both went into half-time at 0-0.
At half-time, Eni Aluko and Glen Johnson both spoke about what was going wrong for Chelsea and the lack of service into Lukaku in the first period was a point made by the former of the aforementioned pundits.
Aluko said on Channel 4's coverage: "There were times when they could’ve gone into him much quicker and played off him. Lukaku’s the best in the world at holding the ball up, bringing others into play.
"Chelsea need to do that quicker. There’s been a few times Thiago’s had the ball and hasn’t done it so Chelsea need to make more of the possession they’ve had."
These were views that were also echoed by Chelsea's football.london correspondent Adam Newson, who summed up the attacking woes with his tweet: 'Yes, it's a final and the only important thing is winning.
'And yes, Palmeiras are sitting deep and doing a good containment job.
'But Chelsea really do make attacking look such hard work.'
However, it only took Chelsea 10 minutes to rectify the issues that were ever-present in the first half after the break. In the 55th minute, Hudson-Odoi's accurate cross was powered in by the £97.5million striker as Aluko's words of advice came to fruition.
"That’s a great ball. Great play, fantastic stand-up ball by Hudson-Odoi," former manager Mark Hughes said on commentary.
"That’s why they paid the big money for the big striker to make sure the most key moments in huge games, games of significance, are scored and has an impact. That's what he wants, that’s what he’s screaming out for."
Here's some of the best reaction to the goal on social media, as well.
@CFCSuffer tweeted: 'I'm sorry for everything Lukaku.'
@MidfieldRole pointed out: 'Callum assist. You people slander him way too much.'
@Leon_zeeee said: 'Nice rom.'
@george09358534 was relieved: 'He needed that, to repay the chelsea fans after all the controversy he caused earlier in the season.'
It was joy that was short-lived, however, after Thiago Silva's handball allowed Raphael Veiga to slot home from the spot to draw parity in proceedings and send the game into extra time.
Extra time ended in joy, though, with the £70million German slotting home from the spot after Cesar Azpilicueta won a penalty after his snap shot in the 117th minute was handled.
