Chelsea made their presence known amongst the top sides in world football with a rampant 3-0 win over PSG in the Club World Cup final.
Enzo Maresca’s tactics perfectly exposed the Champions League holders’ weaknesses, with Cole Palmer moving out to the right of attack.
He marked this with two glorious goals in the first half, before setting up Joao Pedro to score the third goal before the break.
Some resolute defending was the story of the second half, with Robert Sanchez and Malo Gusto in particular enjoying fantastic performances.
Luis Enrique ‘slaps’ Joao Pedro after Club World Cup final
Palmer was the star of the show, and the PSG players couldn’t help but show their frustration. Joao Neves was sent off late on for a hair pull on Marc Cucurella.
Things spilled over after the final whistle, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and manager Luis Enrique involved in the heart of things.
Journalist Nizaar Kinsella has shared that the PSG boss actually landed a slap on Pedro, seeing the Brazilian drop to the deck and a pushing match break out.
He said: “Seen the video back. It’s definitely Luis Enrique the aggressor on Joao Pedro with a slap to the neck but Donnarrumma kind of just falls forward after and Kimpembe pulls away his manager. Extraordinary scenes.”
It is unclear yet whether there will be any retrospective punishment for Enrique or Donnarumma, with the goalkeeper actually being linked with Chelsea before the game got underway.
Pedro’s perfect start to life at Chelsea
Not everyone was convinced of the £60m transfer fee paid by Chelsea for Pedro to bring him in from Brighton. However, he has not taken long to prove those critics wrong.
The Brazilian has three goals in two starts for the Blues, and looks a certainty to start when the first game of the new Premier League season comes around.
Things are looking bright for the future of Chelsea at the top end of the pitch, with Liam Delap showing he will be an extremely useful player with his cameo off the bench.
The future does remain uncertain for Nicolas Jackson, who was an unused substitute for the Blues against PSG.
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