In the 76th minute, Thiago Silva attempted to revive a labouring Chelsea attack.
Expertly intercepting Salem Al-Dawsari's attempted pass-through to Moussa Marega, the Brazillian spotted a welcoming patch of grass in front of him to run into, so he obliged.
The Brazillian powerfully drove with the ball like a box-to-box midfielder before cooly threading a pass to Mason Mount, charging down the right channel. But as soon as Silva had injected some much-needed speed into a counter-attack, it had stopped dead.
Mount stopped and played the ball back to Silva, who had continued his run. Receiving the ball without apparent options, the 37-year-old regrettably laid the ball back to grind the attack to a halt.
There will be a lot of positivity about Chelsea reaching the Club World Cup final on Wednesday night thanks to a Romelu Lukaku strike to beat Al-Hilal, but this was a highly uninspiring performance.
It is unknown whether Roman Abramovich was in attendance or not, but the owner would have certainly had eyes on a game that put his club within one game of the last major trophy yet to capture since his takeover.
Silva's rare drive forward from central defence reflected another evening of attacking irritation.
Rather than outright failure, this felt like perfectly refined boredom.
For about four years now, Chelsea has become masters at managing to orchestrate spells of the campaign where they make football look as tedious as Golf.
Noticeably it usually occurs during the winter months when all sense of expression seems to leave Cobham. It felt ironic that even in the humidity of the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, the winter slog usually experienced in cold England seem to transcend time zones and climate.
These all too familiar runs now for supporters when scoring goals becomes some unsolvable conundrum. It is like a toddler being handed a Rubix cube for the first time. These spells of profligacy go on for soo long you start to question your sanity.
Lukaku's 32nd-minute winner came through a moment of fortune rather than artistry. The ball dropped kindly to the Belgian for his ninth goal of the season—a much-needed break for the maligned centre-forward in desperate need of good form.
It is very rare when all of Chelsea's expensive attackers click. On Wednesday, Lukaku appeared the brightest, boosted by his goal and consistently aided by Al-Hilal's high line for him to run behind. He was linking up well with others, or at the very least, attempting to create space.
But again, there were moments of miscommunication or lack of movement.
Tuchel gave Kai Havertz his first start since the 5th of January, a game where he scored the opener.
Although Havertz's diligent work on the left side opened the space for him to have a hand in the winning goal, it was Al Hilal's poor defending that diverted a pretty tame cross into Lukaku, who had moved to the near post.
Four of Lukaku's nine goals have come with Havertz on the pitch, but this was not a performance to laud from the £71m German.
Havertz, like his compatriot Timo Werner, is doing little to justify replacing Lukaku or any other peer in Chelsea's misfiring attack, which is another red flag for Abramovich, given over £100m was spent on the duo in 2020.
Chelsea has Kepa Arrizabalaga to thank once more as his smart stops in the second half secured the slim lead and set up a final with Copa Libertadores holders Palmeiras on Saturday.
This was another unconvincing performance, one that, if replicated again, will likely see a repeat of the 2012 disappointment against Corinthians in the same competition.
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