• Source:JND
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Chelsea vs Benfica Club World Cup 2025: Chelsea scored three goals during the second half of extra time and thus defeated Benfica by 4-1 in a weather-affected last-16 match on Saturday and thus will be locking horns with Brazil's Palmeiras during the quarterfinals. Players like Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored goals each during the nine minutes and thus took the team across despite being forced to stay off the pitch for two hours owing to inclement weather.

Chelsea was already leading the match on the back of Reece James' brilliance during the 64th minute whereas Benfica's Gianluca Prestiani was seen going back just after two minutes during injury time.

Angel Di Maria then scored a goal from the penalty spot just three minutes after and ensured that the match against the Portuguese side was going towards a tie and forced the match towards extra time as that was when Chelsea emerged victorious and would now be facing Palmeiras during their next match.

"Very proud, the performance for me was top until 85 minutes when they stopped the game and it started a completely different game," Maresca told broadcasters during the post-match presentation.

"When you are inside for more than one hour, it's not easy, but 1-1, and then we continued to play and the reward was the one that we deserved" he added.

Chelsea skipper James has put up his brilliant set-piece abilities and helped the team take the lead during the 64th minute by scoring a free kick.

The match was stopped for five minutes towards the end owing to a lightning storm, near the Bank of America stadium, and according to the weather protocol that break went for about two hours and both the teams and the supporters left the exposed area.

And when both the teams returned, Prestianni was sent off the pitch as he had committed a bookable offence, just after the match restarted and Benfica was optimistic as Di Maria scored a penalty shootout after Malo Gusto's handball.

It was Chelsea, who took most advantage of having a one-man advantage during extra time.

Nkunku had helped Chelsea take the lead within three minutes of the second half of the extra time as he kicked the ball over Nicolas Otamendi as Benfica's goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin had blocked Moises Caicado's initial shot.

After six minutes, Neto had hit Chelsea's third goal quite comprehensively as he ran towards the goalpost. Drewsbury-Hall scored the winning goal during the 117th minute after the ball was kicked into the air by Palmer.