BLUES fans will hope Romelu Lukaku’s fortunate goal can spur the Belgium hitman into top form and drive the Blues to a maiden Club World Cup crown.
Lukaku pounced on Yasir Alshahrani’s moment of misfortune to blast home and seal Chelsea’s 1-0 Club World Cup semi-final win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.
Chelsea’s £98million club-record signing Lukaku ended a five-game goal drought at Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, turning home the decisive strike as the Blues were made to grind their way to victory.
Both the Blues and their Brazilian opponents in the final Palmeiras are chasing their first Club World Cup triumph, but assistant Chelsea boss Zsolt Low hailed Lukaku for handing his side their shot at glory.
“Everyone’s very happy he scored, he fought very hard and tried hard in the game,” said Low.
“That’s why we give him the chance all the time. We hoped for a bit of luck to score today.
“He’s very happy, we’re very happy and hope he continues and scores in the final.”
Chelsea laboured to the win, albeit while still deserving to progress to the final.
Riyadh side Al Hilal pushed the Blues right to the limit however, amid impressive management from their accomplished boss Leonardo Jardim.
Kepa Arrizabalaga produced two fine saves amid another assured performance, and will doubtless push Edouard Mendy all the way for the starting goalkeeping berth in Saturday’s final.
“We worked very hard, we missed a bit of freedom and rhythm,” said Low.
“We started a little nervous, it was not easy. We fought hard for it to find a solution.
“My opinion is the solution was there but we didn’t find it easily. We missed a bit of rhythm in this game but we fought hard to get the result and reach the final.
“This competition is very important for the club. The players felt the pressure and that’s why we failed to find the easy solution and score goals.
“The players did well. We didn’t concede and had a lot of opportunities to score a second.”
Blues manager Tuchel was forced to watch the match at home in London on television given his isolation.
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