Andrey Santos dazzles as one of Chelsea’s five biggest winners from Palmeiras victory

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Chelsea continued their run in this year’s Club World Cup tournament with a narrow victory against Palmeiras this weekend.

The Blues triumphed on Saturday with a 2-1 win against Palmeiras in the quarter-finals, which sets up a semi-final clash against Fluminense.

Chelsea were rated as favourites to win the Club World Cup by Opta’s Supercomputer before the quarter-finals kicked off. Without a doubt, they are a team in encouraging form with a lot of momentum behind them.

We’ve picked out the five biggest Chelsea winners from the victory over Palmeiras…

Andrey Santos

It turned out to be an excellent Saturday for Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos, 21, because he made the most of a late promotion into the starting line-up.

Blues captain Reece James felt tightness in the warm-up, so he wasn’t risked, and Santos was called into the XI for his first competitive start in Chelsea colours.

There is a lot of excitement within the fanbase around Santos after a superb time on loan with Strasbourg. Based off his individual display against Palmeiras, he’s ready to compete for a midfield position in West London because he’s a player on the rise.

He looked the part in a defensive midfield position for the Blues in the quarter-final success. The best thing about him is that he can operate as a No.6, No.8 or No.10 quite effectively.

Santos is firmly in Chelsea’s plans moving forward into the new season, so we’re excited to see a lot more of him.

Enzo Maresca

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca, 45, deserves a lot of credit for how his team is doing right now.

It’s now 12 wins from the last 14 games across all competitions for Maresca’s side, which dates back to mid-April.

He lifted his first piece of silverware with the Blues via the Conference League back in May. Now, his team are just two more wins away from adding the Club World Cup trophy to their haul in 2025.

In terms of this summer tournament, the Italian manager is doing an underrated job for shuffling his pack on a regular basis and keeping the standards high.

Joao Pedro

Joao Pedro came off the bench against Palmeiras and enjoyed a strong Chelsea debut.

The 23-year-old forward, who signed from Brighton at the start of July, slotted into the team brilliantly in the second period.

It’s a great sign that Chelsea fans waxed lyrical about Pedro’s debut performance because winning them over from the start will help.

If he wanted any more positive news, it looks like it’s a straight shootout between him or Nicolas Jackson to start the semi-final Fluminense because Liam Delap is unavailable through suspension.

Cole Palmer

It felt like a vintage performance from Cole Palmer in Chelsea’s win against Palmeiras, so he should take real confidence going forward into the latter stages of the tournament.

The 23-year-old playmaker opened the scoring in style with a low finish after a smart turn to create space. He was an attacking threat throughout from the No.10 position, too.

Palmeiras manager Abel Ferreira said his side struggled to contain Palmer during the contest because of his movement and attacking threat.

Now that the Englishman has had his first real dip in his Blues career, we’re expecting to see him bounce back and regain his best form imminently.

Trevoh Chalobah

Trevoh Chalobah definitely belongs in the conversation for one of the most underrated players in the Chelsea squad.

Yet again, the 26-year-old central defender proved against Palmeiras he can do a reliable job whenever he’s drafted into the starting XI.

With Levi Colwill suspended for the semis, Chalobah has put together a great argument that he should be starting next Tuesday as one of the centre-backs. The academy graduate has been a breath of fresh air since returning from a loan spell at Crystal Palace back in January.