Nkunku’s extra-time goal sparks Chelsea to weather-delayed 4-1 win over Benfica in Club World Cup

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Christopher Nkunku scored off a rebound in extra time and Chelsea went on to beat Benfica 4-1 in a Club World Cup Round of 16 match Saturday at Bank of America Stadium that was delayed for two hours due to lightning and took nearly five hours to complete.

Chelsea advances to play Palmeiras in the quarterfinals Friday in Philadelphia. Palmeiras beat Botafogo 1-0 on Saturday.

Nkunku’s tiebreaking goal came in the 108th minute with Benfica playing a man down after Gianluca Prestianni received a red card. Moisés Caicedo’s left-footed shot from the left side of the box was saved in the center of the goal by Anatolii Trubin, but an alert Nkunku was there to bury the deflection into the top right corner before being mobbed by teammates.

Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall added insurance goals in extra time for the final margin.

Reece James scored on a free kick in the 64th minute to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead.

But with four minutes left, the match was stopped because of lightning and delayed for two hours. When the teams returned, Chelsea was called for a handball in stoppage time when the ball hit Malo Gusto’s hand.

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Angel Di Maria converted the penalty to even the match.

After dominating most of the first half, the English club finally broke through when the 25-year-old James laced a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

The Portuguese side had a chance to tie it in the 78th minute, but Gianluca Prestianni sent a right-footed shot from the right side of the box just left of the goal. Prestianni held his head in his hands in agony after the miss.

In the closing minutes, players were pulled off the field and fans told to seek cover due to lightning strikes in the area, although it did not rain at the stadium.

Only a few thousand fans returned for the conclusion.

Chelsea entered with a 3-0 record against Benfica and controlled the tempo in the first half with a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. But despite possessing the ball more than 60% of the time, the Blues headed to locker room at halftime in a scoreless tie.

The match was not well attended.

More than half of the lower bowl of 75,000-seat Bank of America Stadium was empty and all but a few hundred seats in the upper deck were remained unclaimed as the event continues to struggle with ticket sales in the United States even as it moved into the knockout round.

Key moment

James’ goal gave Chelsea momentum after it failed to convert some decent looks in the first half.

Takeaways

Benfica seemed content to play defense most of the match and try to take advantage of its few chances. But the offense could not capitalize on the opportunities it generated.

Noteworthy

It was the first two Round-of-16 knockout games at the home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Inter Milan meets Fluminense on Monday, with the winner facing either Bayern Munich or Flamengo in the quarterfinals.

What they said

“For 85 minutes we were in control. After the break, the match changed. It’s not the same game. You suspend a game (for two hours), to me that’s not football. I struggle to understand it. ... We have been here two weeks and they have suspended six or seven games, so something is not working here.” — Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca.

“In the first half our objective was to come forward although we were facing a very tough side.” — Benfica coach Bruno Lage.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer