Liam Delap Takes Chelsea To The Last 16 To Meet Benfica

JAKARTA - New PLAYer Liam Delap took Chelsea to the last 16 of the 2025 Club World Cup after defeating Esperance de Tunis in the final Group match at the Lincoln Financial Field Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 morning WIB. In the knockout round, Chelsea met the elite Portugal team Benfica.

Chelsea is not wrong in signing Delap from Ipswich Town. And Chelsea had to compete fiercely with Manchester United to attract Delap. The London club had to disburse 30 million pounds when they brought the 22-year-old forward.

Delap replaces Nicolas Jackson who is absent due to a red card. Jackson also couldn't be fielded when the Blues faced Benfica in the round of 16.

In that match, Enzo Maresca's manager fielded second-tier players. Pillar players such as Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella, Pedro Neto, Moises Caicedo and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez were not fielded.

However, Maresca still slipped midfielder Enzo Fernandez into a start with Noni Madueke and Delap who became the centre forward.

However, rotating players, Chelsea is still too strong for Esperance and shows dominance throughout the match. Only they had difficulty facing a strong opponent's defense. Moreover, Chelsea's front line is less sharp and often throws away opportunities.

When the match entered first-half injury time, Chelsea could only break the deadlock by scoring two goals immediately. Defender Tosin Adarbioyo managed to break into the opponent's goal in the 45+3 minute. He finished Fernandez's assist which gave Chelsea a 1-0 lead.

Not long ago or two minutes later, they immediately added goals. Fernandez returned to the goal process after his assist was completed by Delap. The score changed to 2-0 and lasted until the first half was over.

In the second half, Chelsea still dominated. Only their attacks always failed. Moreover, Chelsea did not insist too much on adding goals.

However, the English Premier League club finally added to the goal just before the game was over. The goal was produced by substitute Tyrique George in the 90+7 minute.

Chelsea also closed the match with a 3-0 advantage. The victory made Chelsea second with six points. Meanwhile, Flamengo emerged as group winner after drawing 1-1 against Los Angeles FC.

Flamengo pocketed the seventh point and faced Bayern Munich who finished runner-up in Group C. Chelsea himself met Benfica who won Group C.

"I liked Liam's performance and he managed to score a goal for us. Against Flamengo he had three chances that should have been a goal. Because he was in a good position. But he couldn't do it," said Maresca.

"Kami tahu Liam segera mencetak gol. Kami tidak pernah mempertanyakannya. Liam juga cepat belajar. Dia pemain yang bagus," ujarnya lagi.