Luis Enrique appears to grab Joao Pedro by the throat as Chelsea 3-0 PSG post-match melee turns ugly
New signing Joao Pedro scored Chelsea's third goal in a 3-0 defeat of Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final but found himself on the deck soon after the final whistle in New Jersey.
Chelsea coasted past European champions PSG in East Rutherford thanks to two goals from Cole Palmer and Pedro's delicious dink over Gianluigi Donnarumma shortly before half time.
The Brazilian and PSG's Italian goalkeeper were eyeball to eyeball once again in the moments after the final whistle but it was the apparent intervention of the Parisians' head coach Luis Enrique that sent Pedro tumbling.
Surrounded by players from both sides, Luis Enrique appeared to reach beyond Donnarumma and make contact with the front of Pedro's neck.
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Pockets of angry scenes continued for several minutes after the final whistle but the mood quickly settled and the Blues shifted their focus to their post-match celebrations.
Donnarumma was involved with various Chelsea players after his head coach appeared to prod or poke or grab Pedro's throat.
Enzo Maresca's team took a 3-0 lead into the break and ended a dominant performance with a second trophy of the season.
PSG midfielder Joao Neves was sent off as the game became increasingly chippy late on and the referee was called to the VAR screen to be shown Neves' yank of Marc Cucurella's hair on the edge of the Chelsea box.
At the time of writing captain Reece James and Chelsea are still waiting to lift the Club World Cup trophy, which may or may not have been modelled on the virtual reality monkey gyroscope from the 1992 Hollywood whoopee cushion The Lawnmower Man.
The competition has been maligned but there's lots to be said for winning the competitions you enter and Chelsea have made a real success of Maresca's first season in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues won both the Club World Cup (which isn't a cup) and the Conference League as well as securing a much-needed return to the Champions League in 2025-26.
Conversely, a tired-looking PSG team ended a historic season well beaten by the new world champions.
If the flashpoints after the final whistle are any indication, they didn't take it especially well.
Topics: Football, FIFA Club World Cup, Chelsea, PSG
Chris Nee