Chelsea eases past Espérance, 3-0, and now Philly awaits Real Madrid in the Club World Cup

For a little while on Tuesday night, you could close your eyes, listen to the raucous Espérance fans in Lincoln Financial Field’s north stands, and wonder if an upset was possible.

Chelsea hadn’t managed to score when first-half stoppage time started, and the underdog was defending valiantly. But it didn’t last.

The English Premier League power scored twice in those stoppage-time minutes, and was rarely threatened after that in what ultimately was a 3-0 win.

Tosin Adarabioyo scored the opener by heading in Enzo Fernández’s free kick midway through the five minutes of added time. Two minutes later, marquee new striker signing Liam Delap trapped a floated pass from Fernández, turned, and split two defenders before curling a low shot to the far corner.

“It was very important to get that goal before the first half ended, just so we have a bit more control in the game,” Adarabioyo said, “and [then] Liam’s first goal for the club. So congrats to him.”

» READ MORE: Chelsea had to get a result vs. Espérance to avoid an embarrassing exit from the Club World Cup

Delap joined Chelsea from $40 million from Ipswich Town at the start of the month and immediately took the vaunted No. 9 jersey. His goal was a first payment back on that big sum.

“We knew we had to win to get through, and we had that belief,” the 22-year-old striker said.

Chelsea was awarded a penalty kick for an apparent handball by Yassine Meriah in the 76th minute. But just as Christopher Nkunku stood ready to take the kick, referee Yael Falcón Pérez of Argentina held him off, waiting to hear from the video review officials.

» READ MORE: Tuesday's game went ahead despite Philly heat making it ‘almost impossible to train’

After a rather long wait, Pérez was summoned to the video review monitor. He ended up taking less time than he’d made Nkunku wait to judge that Meriah’s arm wasn’t actually outstretched enough to be a foul. The call was withdrawn, and Pérez announced it to the crowd, as is now soccer’s custom.

Tyrique George finally finished things off in the 95th minute with a low smash from the top of the 18-yard box arc.

The attendance was 32,967, and the portion in FIFA’s suite included some heavy hitters. President Gianni Infantino was there, with colleagues including former U.S. Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro and former U.S. women’s team manager Jill Ellis. Both now work for FIFA, Cordeiro as one of Infantino’s assistants and Ellis on the governing body’s technical committee.

With temperatures still in the 90s at the 9 p.m. kickoff, Espérance fans once again made a colorful scene in the stands, with three full sections in the north end and many more red-and-yellow jerseys in the rest of the stands.

» READ MORE: The Club World Cup is controversial. Could Philadelphia’s games make it a success?

Chelsea’s fans mostly were in the south end, and one of their chants offered a hint about where they came from: a very American “Let’s go, Chelsea!” It was heard a few times over the course of the night.

The win booked Chelsea’s place in the round of 16, with second place in Group D. The Blues will head to Charlotte, N.C., to face Portugal’s Benfica on Saturday (4 p.m., DAZN). Benfica upset Germany’s Bayern Munich earlier Tuesday, 1-0, to top Group C.

That game’s winner will play in Philadelphia in the quarterfinals on July 4, against the winner of Saturday’s early game at the Linc between Brazil’s Palmeiras and Botafogo (noon, TNT, Univision, DAZN).

Philadelphia has had a lot of fun with the six teams it has hosted so far in the Club World Cup. But on Thursday night, the city will see a team like no other.

Real Madrid, the 15-time European champions and 36-time Spanish champions, will play at Lincoln Financial Field for the first time since 2012. Judging from the sales map on Ticketmaster’s website, the crowd could easily hit 60,000, with tickets starting at $183.38 for resale as of Wednesday afternoon.

» READ MORE: What to know about Palmeiras and Corinthians, including one of the teams' odd link to the Eagles

That’s for good reasons. Real undoubtedly is the planet’s most popular club team and always has some of the game’s biggest superstars. The current squad includes France’s Kylian Mbappé, Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior, England’s Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Croatia’s Luka Modrić — just to name a few. There are plenty more.

Many of them could play against Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg (9 p.m., DAZN), but Mbappé won’t. He came down with gastroenteritis after Real arrived at its training camp in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., had to go to a hospital because of it, and has not played in the tournament. His teammates opened with a 1-1 tie against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, then beat Mexico’s Pachuca, 3-1.

Mbappé returned to practice Wednesday, joining the team’s morning session in Florida before they flew to Philadelphia. But he was not included in the official squad list for the game when the team announced it in the afternoon.

Salzburg’s squad is led by attacking midfielders Oscar Gloukh and Dorgeles Nene. Gloukh is a colleague of the Union’s Tai Baribo on Israel’s national team.

The club is where Union sporting director Ernst Tanner made his name. He led its youth academy before coming to Philadelphia in 2018. Two years later, he sold Brenden Aaronson to Salzburg for $6 million, and banked another $5 million in 2022 when Salzburg sold the Medford native to England’s Leeds United for $30 million.

» READ MORE: The Club World Cup in Philly serves as a reminder that soccer is more than the English Premier League

Real has visited Philadelphia twice before, both for friendlies. In 2012, they beat Scotland’s Celtic, 2-0, with its stars at the time including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Kaká. In 2011, they beat the Union, 2-1, with many of the same players. Michael Farfan scored the Union’s goal with a memorable chip, albeit against the visitors’ third-string goalkeeper.

Another of Real’s players from back then, Xabi Alonso, is now the club’s manager. Long renowned as a skilled and hardworking midfielder, he took the helm just before the Club World Cup.

Alonso previously managed Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen, and last year led the team to its first Bundesliga title in 120 years of play — with an unbeaten record, too. It was no surprise when he left there to return to Madrid, where he added the 2012 La Liga and 2014 Champions League titles to his long list of trophies.