54,000 fans crammed into Lincoln Financial Field on Friday to watch Flamengo's match against Chelsea in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Many of those supporters treated themselves to Philadelphia's famed roast pork hoagies, whilst others feasted on the Philly cheesesteak.
But as for Chelsea's players and manager Enzo Maresca, they had a healthy dose of humble pie shoved down their mouths.
There were quite a few puzzled faces when the line-ups were released. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was experimenting with a makeshift starting XI that saw Reece James operate in central midfield alongside Moises Caicedo, with Enzo Fernández pushing forward alongside Cole Palmer, and Pedro Neto and new signing Liam Delap acting as strikers.
All eyes were on Palmer to step up and deliver, with the Englishman enjoying a reputation as a big-game player. Speaking to FourFourTwo prior to the match, Palmer stated, "I feel like [my big-game record] has been from young... even in the finals when I was younger, I always seemed to do something in them. Since I've come into the first team, I've continued that."
Instead, Palmer was nowhere to be seen, continuing a poor run of form that has seen him score just once (a penalty) in his last 25 matches. However, Chelsea's other forwards did manage to find some joy on the counter-attack, exploiting Flamengo's high line on various occasions.
Raring to go in his first Chelsea start, Delap stung the palms of Flamengo goalkeeper Agustín Rossi to force an early save. And then, in a goal completely against the run of play, Neto pounced on an individual mistake from Wesley, raced from the centre circle towards the edge of the box, and tucked in the opener into the bottom right corner.
At first, it seemed as though Flamengo manager Filipe Luís' decision to go with Wesley, Ayrton Lucas and Leo Pereira over the tried and trusted Guillermo Varela, Alex Sandro and Leo Ortiz was backfiring tremendously. But that didn't take a toll on their confidence levels; instead, they continued to play their game and dominate proceedings.
Flamengo nearly levelled the scoring before halftime via a free kick, only for Levi Colwill to head the ball off the line. Chelsea, for their part, had a penalty shout waved off before the interval. At no point, however, did Chelsea appear remotely comfortable with their advantage.
Flamengo nearly equalized after Reece James failed to clear his lines, allowing Gerson to advance into the box and tee up Gonzalo Plata, whose shot ricocheted off the post. Plata would come close again, forcing a window-washer of a save from Robert Sánchez at the hour-mark.
The resulting counter was cleared, with Flamengo recycling it and working it towards Gerson, who filtered a lofted cross towards Plata. The Ecuadorian made no mistake this time, heading it into the path of Bruno Henrique, who, immediately after coming on, nailed home the equalizing goal.
From that point on, it was one-way traffic for Flamengo. Another corner followed as Henrique climbed above Malo Gusto and headed it into the path of Danilo who made no mistake with the finish.
Speaking to FourFourTwo prior to the match, Danilo admitted, "Without a doubt, the Club World Cup was important in me joining Flamengo in January. Whilst it was a boyhood dream playing for Flamengo, I obviously wanted to play in a team where I could compete at a high level, and playing in the Club World Cup was a key point in me going to Flamengo."
The floodgates continued to open up as Nicolas Jackson, immediately after coming on for Delap, decided to plant his studs into Ayrton Lucas' shin and receive a sending-off. With no natural striker in the team, and with 10 men on the pitch, Chelsea were chasing shadows as Flamengo did as they pleased.
Chelsea would have a chance to equalize as Palmer fired in a free kick towards Fernández, whose header sailed north of the post. Flamengo would put the game to bed as superb interchange of passes between Plata and Wallace would see the ball fall kindly to Wallace, who, immediately after exiting the bench, doubled Flamengo's lead.
Flamengo's 3-1 victory in Philadelphia means that they are the first of the 32 teams to book their spot in the knockout round, and that they can rest key players in their final group stage match vs. already-eliminated LAFC. As for Chelsea, they need to avoid defeat against Espérance Sportive de Tunis in Philadelphia in order to confirm their spot in the Round of 16.
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