PSG manager Luis Enrique appeared to grab the face of Chelsea striker Joao Pedro as tempers flared at the end of the Club World Cup final.
Chelsea dealt the European champions a shock defeat in the final in New Jersey, winning 3-0 thanks to two goals from Cole Palmer and one by Joao Pedro, all scored before half-time.
PSG finished the game with 10 men after Joao Neves pulled Marc Cucurella’s hair. And emotions boiled over in the heat as the players of both sides clashed in the middle of the pitch after the final whistle.
Luis Enrique appeared to throw his left hand at Joao Pedro’s face, pushing the Brazilian forward to the floor before being pulled away from the situation.
“I don’t need to say about them because it’s normal,” Joao Pedro said post-match. “Everyone wants to win the game and in the end I think they lose their heads.
“But this is football, this is happening. Now you need to enjoy because you won the tournament, that’s it.
“I don’t want to talk too much about them because you know how it works. Football is this.”
It marked a wild end to quite an event which Fifa, the world governing body, had been determined to make memorable, with US President Donald Trump in attendance.
The pre-match programme, which included a performance from Robbie Williams and a US Air Force flyover, overran and led to a kick-off delay – but Chelsea all but had the game wrapped up before Doja Cat appeared at half-time.
It was a remarkable achievement against a PSG side that had been chasing their fifth trophy of a glorious season.
Palmer, the Conference League final match-winner, was at his dazzling best and many in the stadium thought he had opened the scoring after eight minutes when he curled narrowly wide from a Pedro flick.
PSG should have made the most of that reprieve and taken the lead themselves after Fabian Ruiz played in Desire Doue, but he opted to pass instead of shoot and Cucurella cleared. Doue did get an effort on goal shortly afterwards but Sanchez reacted well.
Palmer took charge of the match after 22 minutes when he placed a left-foot shot perfectly into the bottom corner after Malo Gusto had seen his own attempt blocked. And PSG were left reeling when he repeated the feat just eight minutes later. This time Palmer created the opportunity himself, latching onto a long ball from Levi Colwill and cutting inside from the right, and the finish was every bit as composed.
He was not finished there either, turning provider before the interval to slip Pedro through on goal. The Brazilian, who scored twice on his full debut in the semi-final win over Fluminense, showed equally great composure to lift the ball over Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Mr Trump said he was “having a really great time” when interviewed by broadcaster DAZN at half-time and the Chelsea fans in the 81,118 crowd would doubtless have said likewise after such a scintillating display.
PSG rallied but Sanchez kept out a header from Neves and then showed brilliant reflexes to paw away a close-range snap-shot on the turn from Ousmane Dembele.
Liam Delap had a superb effort pushed away by Donnarumma within moments of coming off the Chelsea bench and went close again soon after.
PSG were beaten and frustration was evident as Neves clashed with Cucurella and earned a red card after tugging at the Spaniard’s hair.
There were further scuffles after the final whistle as Chelsea’s squad and staff poured onto the field to celebrate and PSG manager Luis Enrique was involved in the ugly incident with Pedro.
The Fifa Club World Cup was shown on DAZN. Sign up here now.
Read the full article here
