Chelsea Beat 10-Man Benfica in Long and Dramatic Match

Chelsea won an exciting and very long Club World Cup match against Benfica to reach the quarter-finals. The game lasted over four hours and was stopped for almost two hours because of bad weather.

The match took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. Chelsea scored three goals late in extra time by Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to win the game.

Earlier, Reece James gave Chelsea the lead in the 64th minute with a great free-kick. But near the end of the game, lightning and rain stopped play. After the delay, Benfica scored with their first shot, making it 1-1 and sending the game to extra time.

In the 94th minute, Benfica’s Angel di Maria scored a penalty in his final game for the club. But Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni was sent off early in extra time after getting two yellow cards.

Chelsea took advantage of having more players and scored three times to win. They will now play Palmeiras in the quarter-finals on Friday in Philadelphia.

Only 25,929 fans attended the match in the large Bank of America Stadium. Chelsea's Benoit Badiashile got injured and left the field on crutches, while Moises Caicedo received his second yellow card of the tournament and will miss the next game.