Goals from Tosin Adarabioyo, Liam Delap and Tyrique George saw Chelsea’s second-string side secure a place in the round of 16 in the Club World Cup with a 3-0 win over Esperance de Tunis in their last group D-competition on Tuesday.
Group winner Flamengo was held 1-1 by Los Angeles FC to end on seven points, one for Chelsea. Esperance finished third with three points, while La FC was at the bottom with one point.
Chelsea will be confronted on Saturday with group C winner Benfica in the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, while Flamengo takes Bayern Munich, Group C, in Miami, in Miami on Sunday.
Despite the effort, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca chose to rotate his team again, with the most important players such as Cole Palmer and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez resting.
He missed striker Nicolas Jackson, who will also not be available against Benfica while he serves a suspension of two games after his red card in the 3-1 loss of Friday for Flamengo.
Delap, a signing of 30 million pounds ($ 40.66 million) from the city of Ipswich, came close to opening the score in the 20th minute, but his header was released from De Lijn.
Read: Fifa Club World Cup: Early goal holds while Benfica Bayern Munich beats to continue to Knock -Outs
Chelsea dominated the possession in a matte first half, but struggled for creativity in the last third part, with Delap wasting a new golden chance in the 30th minute when he missed the target up close.
The breakthrough eventually came in the first half of the stopping time when Adarabioyo rose the highest to lead the ball in the left corner.
Moments later, Delap doubled Chelsea’s lead, used on a loose ball in the box, cutting in a defender and neatly ending in the far corner ending.
The second half saw that Chelsea largely checked the procedure without pressing a third goal, and the determined defensive display ensured that there was no way back for Esperance.
The London side made the score at 3-0 when replacement George shot deep in extra time from the edge of the box.
