This is precisely the sort of pattern Liam Delap is hoping to break. Chelsea were leading but laboring in the stifling Philadelphia heat against Espérance de Tunis on Tuesday before their new £30 million striker took his chance to wrap up second place in Group D and safe passage to the round of 16.
Moments after Tosin Adarabioyo‘s header had given Chelsea the lead in first-half stoppage time, Delap collected a ball clipped forward by Enzo Fernández before dropping his shoulder, cutting inside on his right foot and rolling the ball into the net. The defending was poor, but Delap’s clinical finish settled what had to that point been a somewhat nervous display, given defeat at Lincoln Financial Field would have sent Chelsea crashing out of the Club World Cup.
They had created a few openings and controlled the play — registering 75% possession in the first half — but were unable to press home that advantage. Time and again, this has been Chelsea’s undoing.
Delap made sure the story was different this time, and his first goal for the club — on his third appearance — was the pivotal moment in a 3-0 win and comes at a particularly opportune moment.
Earlier in the day, Chelsea learned that FIFA had decided to extend Nicolas Jackson‘s suspension for his red card against Flamengo from the mandatory one game to two. That means he will also miss Saturday’s round-of-16 clash against Benfica in Charlotte, and it will give Delap another opportunity to stake his claim as their main forward when the 2025-26 campaign begins in August.
The competition between Jackson and Delap is close, but there is little doubt who has the momentum right now. He turned a difficult evening into a routine one, and that, in essence, is the job.
Chelsea were sufficiently comfortable to take Delap off in the 59th minute with Benfica in mind, and the two-goal margin here also masked another evening where manager Enzo Maresca tried to balance the seemingly incompatible dual aims of trying to win this competition and experimenting for next season.
Maresca made eight changes to the team that lost to Flamengo, with Cole Palmer, Reece James, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Moisés Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Trevoh Chalobah, and Robert Sánchez all among the substitutes.
This was largely due to fatigue within the squad and a desire to prioritize the use of fresh legs, given Maresca’s pre-match admission that the team could barely train amid sweltering temperatures, which hit 100F for the first time in 13 years earlier on Tuesday.
Just as against Flamengo, Maresca tried something different with Malo Gusto inverting from left back, Noni Madueke on the left wing, and Romeo Lavia acting as a sole midfield pivot with Fernandez and Christopher Nkunku both pushing on behind Delap.
There were encouraging signs, but Chelsea struggled to create much of note until that sudden double salvo from Tosin and Delap.
Andrey Santos made his long-awaited competitive debut, and Nkunku had the chance to score from the spot taken away when a penalty awarded for handball by Yassine Meriah was overturned on VAR review.
Substitute Tyrique George added a late third with a low drive in which Tunis goalkeeper Bechir Ben Saïd should have saved, but in effect, Chelsea were largely running down the clock on a night when only the result mattered.
They will have to be better against Benfica. But if Delap can continue his promising start, there’s every chance they will be. — James Olley