Kai Havertz does like the big occasion.
The man whose goal secured the Champions League last May, stepped up to convert the extra time penalty that saw them crowned world champions.
Roman Abramovich applauded heartily from the VIP section of the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi as one of his biggest investments delivered the last remaining major trophy Chelsea’s owner had yet to win.
The Club World Cup completes the set after this 2-1 victory against Brazilian side Palmeiras.
If Havertz’s career since his £71million move from Bayer Leverkusen was condensed down to a highlights reel, it would make for spectacular viewing.
It would also not tell the full story of a short Chelsea career that has included moments of frustration and several false dawns.
But there has also been enough to suggest he can be the player the club wanted to build their future around following the departure of Eden Hazard.
The 22-year-old has already earned himself legendary status curtesy of his Champions League winner against Manchester City in Porto. And even if he has failed to fully kick on since then, his coolly struck spot kick after 117 minutes was evidence of the character that makes champions.
In front of a crowd nearly 33,000, with Chelsea’s fans heavily outnumbered by the travelling Brazilians, Havertz showed nerves of steel to send Weverton the wrong way.
But it was not just about that penalty, his all-round performance had convinced Thomas Tuchel to leave him on the pitch for the entire 120 minutes as Chelsea went in search of a winner.
In contrast, Romelu Lukaku was withdrawn after 76 minutes, despite heading his side in front in the second half.
It spoke volumes as to who Tuchel believed was likelier to open up Palmeiras, which, in itself, was a gutsy move in front of Abramovich, considering the Russian had laid out a club record £97.5million on Lukaku last summer.
But this was a night that could hardly have worked out better for Chelsea’s manager, who only arrived in the country on Friday night after testing positive for Covid last week. He delivered the Club World Cup with goals from Abramovich’s two biggest bets in recent times.
And in doing so, he erased the pain of 2012 when Chelsea became the last European side not win the competition – losing to Corinthians in Yokohama.
The importance of this trophy to the club was no better demonstrated by Tuchel’s decision to drop Kepa Arrizabalaga in favour of Edouard Mendy.
Kepa had been pivotal to Chelsea reaching this stage with two impressive second half saves against Al Hilal in the semi-final – but there was no room for sentiment with Mendy reinstalled as No1 after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.
There was also no doubting how desperate Palmeiras were to make a point with victory against the European champions – and there were some worrying lulls from Chelsea in the face of first half pressure.
Andreas Christensen had to be alert to block Ze Rafael from running through clear on goal and then raced across to prevent Dudu from getting a shot on target.
Chelsea were not helped by Mason Mount having to be replaced by Christian Pulisic in the 31st-minute due to injury.
The half ended with Thiago Silva forcing Weverton into an outstretched save from 25 yards - but replays showed the effort was heading wide.
Tuchel needed to inject some life into his players at the break – and he did precisely that. They were ahead 10 minutes into the second half through Lukaku.
Just as in the semi-final, it was a burst of pace from Mateo Kovacic that shifted the momentum in an instant and put Chelsea onto the front foot.
He laid off to Callum Hudson-Odoi on the left and the winger lifted the ball into the danger zone.
From there it was all about Lukaku’s power, with the Belgian rising above Luan and directing his header into the top corner.
But Palmeiras were gifted an equaliser in the 64th-minute when Silva inexplicably handled when trying to beat Gustavo Gomez in the air.
VAR instructed referee Chris Beath to look at the pitch-side monitor, which confirmed the offence. Raphael Veiga stepped up to level the scores by sending Mendy the wrong way.
Havertz flashed a shot over from a tight angle and Pulisic fired narrowly wide from the edge of the box as Chelsea looked for a winner, but the game drifted towards extra time with few openings created by either team.
Tuchel changed Chelsea’s shape, switching to a back four try to give his side more bodies in attack – but it did not bring about much in the way of chances until VAR intervened again when Luan handled Cesar Azpilicueta’s shot in the box in the second period of extra time.
Havertz stepped up, sent Weverton the wrong way and Chelsea’s fans wild.
Just to punish Luan further, a lunge on Havertz just before the final whistle earned him a red card.
The challenge now for Chelsea’s German forward is to prove he can be a big game player – no matter what the occasion.
