Chelsea lead against Fluminense in the Club World Cup semi final!
The Blues have a goal – and it was an amazing effort from Joao Pedro on his debut.
The striker was part of the link up play right from the start, flicking a ball onto Pedro Neto who rushed in behind. The Portuguese winger made it to the box and saw his cross blocked. But the ball dropped back to Brazilian striker Joao Pedro, who saw the space for a shot open up. He whipped it right footed into the far side netting from the corner of the big box. A wonder strike.
He didn’t celebrate, as the goal came against his boyhood team.
This goal should open the game up hugely – the Brazilian team need to score now, and will leave space in behind them.
You can see the goal in the clips embedded here:
18′ João Pedro, are you serious?! ⚽💥
First start, first goal, and it’s against his old club! Chelsea 1-0
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— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) July 8, 2025
[Footage from DAZN]
Joao Pedro stakes his place for regular starts
There’s been a lot of talk about which player will start up front for Enzo Maresca this season, and it’s fair to say that Pedro couldn’t have made much of a better impression in his few minutes so far.
He changed the game when he came on against Palmeiras last week, and has just scored this superb goal on his first start. Nicolas Jackson has gone from undisputed number one to having a lot of work to go to get back into the team.
Finally we have options up top, and it looks like it’s paying off. We don’t want to get carried away, but Joao Pedro, Jackson and Liam Delap all bring different qualities and we should have a much stronger season with all of them available up top.
This goal is just the start.
