By Betsefy
Chelsea have booked their place in the Club World Cup final courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Al-Hilal on Wednesday evening.
A first-half goal from Romelu Lukaku proved to be the difference in Abu Dhabi, although the European champions had to battle hard to see off their Saudi Arabian opponents.
Chelsea dominated possession for much of the opening 45 minutes, but Al-Hilal were still able to offer a threat on the counter-attack when the Blues became too passive or lost concentration.
Lukaku had squandered a number of half chances during the first half-hour before he finally put Chelsea ahead shortly afterwards, capitalising on the ball falling to his feet inside the six-yard box and rifling the ball into the net.
Despite generally controlling matters, Chelsea would have been told that they required a second goal after the break, and Kai Havertz almost delivered it having advanced into the penalty area before hitting the post from an acute angle.
Al-Hilal midfielder Mohamed Kanno reminded the Premier League side that they were in a game with a shot from distance, while the English team’s backline had to react to prevent a goalbound effort from Odion Ighalo.
Kepa Arrizabalaga then had to react well to deny Moussa Marega, who had been played in behind Thiago Silva, before the Spaniard pulled off a near miraculous one-handed stop to tip Kanno’s long-range strike behind the post.
Jang Hyun-soo kept the pressure up with a header that went narrowly wide, but Al-Hilal struggled to maintain their momentum during the closing 15 minutes.
Chelsea’s game management came to the fore and although they failed to double their advantage in the process, the West Londoners did enough to set up a showdown with Brazilian giants Palmeiras on Saturday evening.
