Lukaku's goal helped Chelsea beat Al Hilal 1-0 in Abu Dhabi to advance to the Club World Cup final.
Full score
The Blues have advanced once in 10 years to the Club World Cup final and we will have a second chance to lift the trophy this Saturday, thanks in large part to the strong performance of the team in the first half today.
In the first half we had better possession and attacking opportunities, and the combination of Kovacic and Romelu Lukaku caused a lot of trouble for the opponents Saudi Arabia. Kovacic rushed forward with the ball, allowing Havertz to find space, and the Blues had the upper hand before scoring the first goal. Havertz then received a cross and the ball bounced off an Al Hilal defender and gave it to Lukaku at close range. Lukaku certainly didn't miss the opportunity and he scored the ball into the net.
Lukaku celebrates scoring the team's first goal
Lukaku celebrated with his teammates after scoring the team's first goal
After half-time, we had a chance to extend our lead and Havertz completed a shot against the goalkeeper but was blocked by the upright. Kepa made two brilliant saves, showed off his strength and gave us the lead. Al-Hilal fought back, they were supported by local fans, and then the Blues substitutes came on and helped us restore the balance between attack and defence, ending the game with relative ease in the final stages of the game.
Starting
Mendy has excelled at the Africa Cup of Nations, coming to the UAE this morning to meet the Blues and Kepa continues as the starting goalkeeper. Christensen returned to the three-back squad with Rudiger and Thiago Silva in his 150th game for the Blues.
In front of them, Marcos Alonso appeared on the left, captain Azpilicueta on the right, and Jorginho continued to partner Kovacic in midfield. Ziyech, Lukaku and Havertz formed a forward trio, with Mount coming off the bench with an injury in the WEEKEND FA Cup win over Plymouth.
Thomas Tuchel remained absent after testing positive for covid-19 and first-team coaches Arno Michel and Zosot Loew took on coaching roles, but our head coach was still actively involved in the game, even if he was unable to play in person.
The Club World Cup journey begins
Al Hilal took the lead in completing the first shot, they controlled the ball in midfield, ambitiously trying to slowly coil up front, but this shot did not threaten Kepa, only to be cheered by a large number of Saudi fans who came to Abu Dhabi.
In fact, despite being a midfielder, Chelsea are more like an away team. Blues fans struggle to cross 3,500 kilometres to Saudi Arabia, and When Chelsea have the ball, they can often hear the boos of Saudi fans.
The opening stages of the game were intermittent, often interrupted by fouls from two teams, and Thiago Silva sent a low shot back from the far, powerful but not precise enough. Christensen then made a brilliant shot, Ziyech grabbed the ball from close range, created space in midfield and then found Azpilicueta on the right. Azpilicueta passed the ball to Ziyech on the edge of the penalty area, but his shot flew off the crossbar.
We started putting pressure on Zoginho and Alonso before their shots were blocked inside the box and Al Hilal's defender completed the defence at the last defensive position, blocking Lukaku's shot.
Chelsea player Lukaku had the ball
The first save was almost in the 15th minute of the match when Lukaku tried to attack the goal under the defence of al-Hilal players, but goalkeeper Mayyov blocked it from close range and Lukaku was ruled offside. Lukaku then had more chances, Azpilicueta sent the ball low to the goal position, but Lukaku was unable to complete the touch, and when Kovacic tried to pass the ball again, he shot the ball directly at the goalkeeper under great pressure.
Take the lead
It was no surprise that Chelsea broke the deadlock after half an hour and Kovacic's outstanding performances once again helped Lukaku score goals, a combination that threatened the goal for some time. This time Kovacic attacked with the ball in most of the penalty area and despite facing a lot of pressure, he still passed the ball to Havertz on the left.
Kovacic clashed with Al-Hilal player Marega
There was some luck in the goal, havertz's first attempted cross was blocked, and then the ball returned to his feet, and his second cross hit the Al Hilal defender and landed right at the feet of Lukaku in the box, who easily scored with his right foot.
Havertz fought with Al-Hilal player Jang Hyun-so
A half-time ago, Al-Hilal was relaxed, but now they had to try more attacks, with Salem's shot from outside the box over the crossbar and missing a chance.
Kovacic continues to play a huge role in midfield, finding That Lukaku has another chance to score, but the referee has raised the offside flag. He then passed the ball to Ziyech at the far post, Lukaku's header to Alonso in the box, Havertz assisted in the attack, but Al Hilal was very tightly defended.
Alonso fought with Al-Hilal player Blake
Chelsea were unable to score another goal before half-time and the Blues maintained a slim margin at half-time to control the game, but we knew we had to be wary of the threat of Al hilal's counter-attack.
Similar
The Blues made a substitution at halftime, with Kante as midfielder and Jorginho in place, and in the second half it lasted almost the same pattern as in the first half, chelsea patiently looked for opportunities and Al Hilal tried to strike back quickly, hoping to pass the ball to the forward players as soon as possible.
It didn't take long for us to almost score the second goal and Havertz showed great skill, he suddenly changed pace, took the ball away from the defender and tried to finish a small angle shot against the goalkeeper, but his shot hit the upright.
Although the game has become more balanced. But Chelsea were more likely to score the next goal, the Blues completed a team fit, and finally Lukaku received a cross from Kante and the header was given to Ziyech, but the goalkeeper struck in time to block Ziyech's shot.
Under pressure
With half an hour left in the game, Alcilar showed their threat in the attacking zone three, pereira gave a pass to Marega, Who turned around inside the box, but Kepa quickly left the goal and blocked the ball with a lot of force.
Azpilicueta fights with Al Hilal player Adashani
As the game progressed, Alcilar's threat grew and they were more desperate to equalise, Kepa made another save, and he showed excellent reflexes and agility, flying to save Canno's powerful shot near the goalpost, before Pereira tried an arcing kick on the edge of the box and deflected it off the left post.
We stabilized the game in the final stages and Kepa no longer needed to maintain our lead with saves. Despite Alcilar's substitutions on the offensive end, another Blues substitute, Mount, passed the ball to Romelu Lukaku near the end of the game and his shot was blocked again.
Chelsea will feel like we can and probably should win with a bigger margin, but in our second time in history we've reached the Club World Cup final, it's not too much of a problem.