As the eyes descended from the fans on the players in Abu Dhabi, the pressure was on both opponents but more so Chelsea.
For Al Hilal, the opportunity to compete on the same pitch with Chelsea Football Club was not lost on the players with former players like Odion Ighalo and Matheus Perreira the former West Brom player who had scored 50% of his career goals the stakes were high in the game.
The cheers echoed throughout the beautiful stadium as the cool desert night set the setting for a ravishing game of football. Early on it was Al Hilal who was the aggressor asking troubling questions of the Chelsea Football Club’s defence putting them in some very concerning positions.
Hakim Ziyech was the one player who was looking to get in spaces that challenged the Saudi champions, Al Hilal surprisingly left a lot of space in behind which we saw Chelsea exploit a lot, for example, a lot of passes were spread from the center backs out to the likes of Azpi where there was an overload on the wings.
Unfortunately for Al Hilal, an unlucky deflection and a precise pass from Kai Havertz meant that Romelu Lukaku capitalized and ended a goal drought, he had a few other chances in the match but didn’t take them and messed up a transition opportunity towards the end where the ball got stuck in his feet. He did look more promising overall though compared to recent weeks, with some nice runs and link up play.
Other standouts included MOTM Mateo Kovacic who ran the midfield and Kepa Arrizabalaga with an amazing stop from Kanno, without which Chelsea could have been in real trouble and the game would have have likely gone to extra time. An overall solid game from Chelsea but the job is not complete, they face Palmierias in the final who are a formidable team in the Brasileiro Serie A first division.
Chelsea will be hoping they can fly Thomas Tuchel out to oversee a more convincing display in the final, Tuchel needs to provide a negative Covid test on either Thursday or Friday, and then 1 when he arrives in Abu Dhabi.
Before Chelsea return home they will face a team eager to defeat them, with a bustling set of fans to match, the game will not be easy and should be a brilliant final.
