Liam Delap scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 3-0 victory against Tunisian champions Esperance on Tuesday, helping the team progress to the last 16 of the Club World Cup.
The match was played in hot and humid weather in Philadelphia, where two quick goals in first-half stoppage time gave Chelsea the advantage.
Defender Tosin Adarabioyo opened the scoring with a strong header, followed closely by Delap’s debut goal for the club. A third goal by Tyrique George in the final minutes sealed the win, with over 32,000 fans watching at Lincoln Financial Field.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca made several changes to his team after their earlier 3-1 defeat to Flamengo. Despite needing only a draw to go through, the team played with purpose and confidence. Delap, Enzo Fernandez, and Malo Gusto kept their places in the starting eleven, while young defender Josh Acheampong was also given a chance to play.
Speaking about Delap’s performance, Maresca noted, “Against Flamengo he had three clear chances to score goals so that means he is there, in the right position, he is doing well. We know Liam is going to score goals with us, we don’t have any doubts about that.”
With this win, Chelsea secured second place in Group D, behind Flamengo. Esperance’s tournament came to an end as they were knocked out. Chelsea now moves on to face Benfica in Charlotte on Saturday.
The Portuguese team earlier defeated Bayern Munich to top Group C. This upcoming game will be the first meeting between the two clubs since the 2013 Europa League final.
Maresca noted the difficulty of the competition and the importance of rest and rotation due to the high temperatures in Philadelphia. “I said yesterday that it was impossible not to rotate players because playing every three days in these conditions is not possible,” he said.
Acheampong nearly scored in the 36th minute, but his shot was saved by Esperance goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said. Fernandez also came close with a long-range effort before assisting Adarabioyo’s goal just before halftime. Chelsea controlled the match well and made the most of their chances, with George adding the final goal in stoppage time.
