The Mail on Sunday

HAVERTZ THE HERO AGAIN

German scores the winning goal, just like he did to secure Champions League

- From Rob Draper CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER IN ABU DHABI

THEY saved the drama until the eleventh hour, or the 117th minute to be precise, but at the end of it all Kai Havertz’s penalty meant that finally Chelsea could count themselves world champions, joining Manchester United and Liverpool among the pantheon of English clubs afforded that honour.

Abu Dhabi will now be added to Munich and Porto as historic city venues for this club and, just as in Portugal, it was Havertz who will write his name in the Chelsea annals. In front of a vociferous and passionate Palmeiras fans in the Mohammed Bin Zayed stadium on the edge of the Arabian Desert, Chelsea collected the one trophy they had not previously secured.

It was not their finest hour nor the most elegantly won trophy. Yet, after a contest in which they had dominated possession, switched to a 4-2-4 for extra-time and at least attempted to seize the initiative even if their fluidity was somewhat lacking, they had earned it.

They had travelled far and wide to get here. Edouard Mendy, starting in goal having flown in from Cameroon, an African Nations winner last weekend and a world champion this weekend. Thomas Tuchel had just about made it time from Covid isolation to secure the second historic trophy of his reign, which is still just over a year in.

By the end there a was a degree of pandemoniu­m. A penalty shootout loomed when Hakim Ziyech teed up a late corner in extra-time, which fell for Cesar Azpilicuet­a. His shot on the volley cannoned off the hand of Luan, though it was carelessly away from his body. Play went on as Azpilicuet­a and Antonio Rudiger swarmed around referee Chris Beath.

Even given the propensity of footballer­s to deceive, they seemed pretty certain. When the ball finally when out of play, Beath was called to the VAR monitor. A penalty was awarded and Havertz stepped up and despite a concerted intimidati­on campaign, kept his cool and shot home. Luan’s sorry evening would come to an end with virtually the final kick, sent off for a profession­al foul on Havertz.

The occasion, though dominated by the Palmeiras fans transformi­ng this district of Abu Dhabi into a little corner of Sao Paulo, was Chelsea’s. The European champions did have one important fan in owner Roman Abramovich.

The stadium may not have been full with 32,817 but the constant din from the Palmeiras fans provided a necessary edge to a game, which can be viewed as an unnecessar­y diversion by Europeans. ‘Palmeiras Dublin’ read one huge banner. It was a global takeover and their desperatio­n to add this trophy to their list of honours evident.

The Brazilians harbour a grudge against FIFA, having won a world club tournament in 1951, which they have long lobbied to be recognised as the forerunner to official World Club Cups. Thus far FIFA have not recognised the victory and, as such, they are taunted by rivals Corinthian­s, Sao Paulo, Internacio­nal, Santos, Flamengo and Gremio — all previous world champions — as a lesser club, devoid of the ultimate trophy. Their big chance came in 1999 when they were defeated in the final by Manchester United’s treble winners.

After all the elaborate pre-match ceremonies, the smell of gunpowder from the pre-match pyrotechni­cs lingered in the nostrils but there were sadly few fireworks on the pitch early on. Disjointed opening exchanges consisted of badly taken free-kicks and corners, with Palmeiras’ 4-2-3-1 regularly reverting to a back six to take care of the wing backs. While Chelsea had little coherence, struggling to free their front players, Palmeiras were so deep they had limited options in attack when they did win the ball.

Dudu’s turn and strike on 22 minutes from the edge of the box was the closest we came to a shot on goal and that was not especially close. That said, Chelsea’s defensive laxness almost cost them on 28 minutes, when, on the break, Vivian sprinted clear and released Dudu in plenty of space. The pass though was slightly behind him and he consequent­ly shot wide.

Sixty nine per cent possession in the first half for Chelsea did not amount to much. They had to wait until just before half-time before

they threatened and even then it was from a hopeful 30-yard striker from Thiago Silva. When the second half began with a similar ambitious effort from Rudiger, you feared more of the same.

Yet a spark came on 55 minutes. It was not precipitat­ed by any surge of Chelsea activity. It emerged unexpected­ly, an injection of energy into a mediocre performanc­e. Mateo Kovacic found Callum Hudson-Odoi wide left and his pace gained him a yard of space. Finally a player was at the byline and Hudson-Odoi did not disappoint with a superb cross, beautifull­y weighted almost on to the forehead of Romelu Lukaku, leaping to nod home.

The sense of euphoria did not last long. Silva leapt with dangly hands to meet a throw aimed at Gomez. The ball struck his hand and though the referee missed it, a VAR check put that right. Raphael Veiga stepped up, sent Mendy the wrong way to strike the ball into the right-hand corner. The Mohammed Bin Zayed stadium erupted.

Chelsea responded. N’Golo Kante embarked on a driving run, fed Lukaku, who touched the ball back

to Christian Pulisic, who drove just wide. A largely uneventful extratime was enlivened only by Pulisic’s bundled effort looping on to the bar. Had it gone in it would have been chalked off by the robot referee, as Werner was offside.

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 ?? ?? PARTY TIME: Chelsea celebrate being crowned world champions
PARTY TIME: Chelsea celebrate being crowned world champions

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