Chelsea shocked PSG in the FIFA Club World Cup final on Sunday, sealing a 3-0 win at the MetLife Stadium. A double from Cole Palmer in the first-half, followed by an excellent Joao Pedro before the break was enough as Enzo Maresca’s side bagged a big win ahead of the upcoming Premier League season.
But tensions boiled over between both teams after full-time. Both sides got into a massive brawl, and the spotlight fell on PSG pair Gianluigi Donnarumma and Achraf Hakimi, who confronted Chelsea’s Andrey Santos.
Also Read: Cole Palmer stars as Chelsea stun PSG to win Club World Cup
Pedro stepped in front of the PSG duo, but manager Luis Enrique joined in and pushed the former Brighton player in the face, which saw him fall down.
Watch full video of the massive brawl:
Asked about the altercation, Pedro told Sportv, “I went to protect Andrey, I saw their players were crowding Andrey.Like a good Brazilian, I went to protect my friend. A lot of people were arriving and in that mess, I ended up getting shoved. It’s part of it.”
{{/usCountry}}Asked about the altercation, Pedro told Sportv, “I went to protect Andrey, I saw their players were crowding Andrey.Like a good Brazilian, I went to protect my friend. A lot of people were arriving and in that mess, I ended up getting shoved. It’s part of it.”
{{/usCountry}}“They didn’t know how to lose, but that’s football.”
Meanwhile, Enrique said in his post-match conference, “At the end of the match there was a situation that I think was totally avoidable, for everyone involved. My objective and intention, like always, was to separate the players to avoid further problems. There was a lot of tension, a lot of passion. There was shoving going on and I think we should avoid that and it should never happen again.”
“But I repeat: my intention was to avoid things getting worse,” he added.
After the match, Palmer also bagged the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player. He destroyed PSG’s defence in the first-half, exploiting empty spaces down the right channel, before scoring a sensational left-footed goal in the 22nd-minute, and then bagged his brace in similar fashion. With two minutes left in the first-half, he once again proved to be key, but this time with an assist, as Pedro made it 3-0.