Chelsea edge past Al Hilal, reach Club World Cup final

Chelsea beat Al Hilal 1-0 to reach the Club World Cup final against Palmeiras on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

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Romelu Lukaku scored in the first half as the Blues dominated early on at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, but the European champions were pegged back in the second half and just about hung on.

Kepa Arrizabalaga made several top saves to keep out Al Hilal, the reigning Asian champions, as Chelsea held on to set up a showdown with South American champs Palmeiras in the final. Based on this showing, Chelsea will have to improve drastically against Palmeiras if they want to be crowned champions of the world.

The Club World Cup is the only trophy Chelsea haven’t won and this is the second final they’ve reached in their history, as they lost the other final to Corinthians in 2012.

Chelsea dominated early on but failed to take multiple chances.

However, Romelu Lukaku then made the most of some poor defending.

LUKAKU!