The semi-finals of the Club World Cup saw Al-Hilal and Chelsea meet at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, and it was the Blues who secured their place in Sunday's final after winning the match 1-0.
2021 Club World Cup
0-1
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
1' KICK-OFF! Who can win this match?
8' Thiago Silva's long shot wide out
10' MISS! Ziyech's shot over the bar
26' Abdullah AI Maiouf denied Lukaku's shot
31' GOAL! Al Hilal 0-1 Chelsea (Lukaku)
36' Salem AI Dawsari's shot over the bar
51' Mohammed Kanoo's long shot over the bar
59' CHANCE! Ziyech's long shot saved by Abdullah AI Maiouf
63' MISS! Kepa denied Marega's shot
68' SAVE! Kepa makes good save
73' Jang's header wide out
79' Mount's shot stopped
Romelu Lukaku scored the only goal of the game in the 32nd minute, with Chelsea having dominated the opening 45 minutes, but Al-Hilal caused a lot of problems for the Blues in the second period.
Chelsea were without head coach Thomas Tuchel for this match after he tested positive for COVID-19, and it was a tale of two halves for his team as he watched on from elsewhere. The Blues were very assured in the first half and created a lot of chances, yet they could only find the back of the net once.
The goal itself came after Kai Havertz sent a looped cross into the box that hit Yasser Al-Shahrani and then landed at the feet of Lukaku, who struck past Abdullah Al-Muaiouf from a couple of yards out.
It seemed as though Chelsea's dominance was going to continue in the second half as Havertz hit the woodwork in the 48th minute. The German was bearing down on goal and saw his chipped effort crash against the post before going behind, but that seemed to provoke a response among the Al-Hilal players.
Particularly from the 55th to the 75th minute, Al-Hilal created a handful of chances but were denied by a mixture of the Chelsea defenders and Kepa Arrizabalaga, while their inability to hit the target came back to haunt them.
The best chance for Al-Hilal fell the way of Mohamed Kanno in the 68th minute, as his curling effort looked as though it was going to end up in the corner of Kepa's goal, but the Spaniard pulled off a world-class save to keep Chelsea's lead intact.
Who will Chelsea play in the final?
In Saturday's final (16:30 GMT), Chelsea will take on Brazilian side Palmeiras, who have prodigious talent Endrick in their ranks.
Line-ups
Al Hilal XI: Ighalo, Abdullah Al Maiouf, G. Cuéllar, Yasir Al Shahrani, Jang Hyun-Soo, Salem Al Dawsari, M. Marega, Mohammed Kanoo, Mohammed Al Burayk, Matheus Pereira, Ali Albulayhi
Subs: A.Carrillo, Mohammed Jahfali, Abdullah Al Jadani, Saleh Al-Shehri, Mohammed Al Owais, Abdulrahman Al-Obaid, Muteb Al Mufarrij, Michael, Hamad Al Yami, Saud Abdul Hamid, Musab Fahz Al-Juwayr
Chelsea XI: Thiago Silva, Azpilicueta, Lukaku, Alonso, Kovacic, Jorginho, Rudiger, Kepa, Christensen, Ziyech, Havertz
Subs: Saul , Barkley, M. Bettinelli, E. Mendy, Kante, Werner, Kenedy, T. Chalobah, Mount, Pulisic, Sarr, Hudson-Odoi