Chelsea beat Monterrey with 3:1 in the FIFA Club World Cup Semi-Finals at the International Stadium Yokohama on Thursday, December 13th 2012 and will face Corinthians in the final on Sunday.
Juan Mata scored the lead for Chelsea in the 17th minute from inside the penalty area. Torres extended the lead with a deflected shot right after half-time in the 46th minute. Chelsea scored the 3:0 after Darvin Chavez deflected the ball in his own goal after a Mata cross. Aldo De Nigris scored a consolation for Monterrey in stoppage time. Chelsea wins comfortably 3:1 against Monterrey and will play Corinthians in Sunday’s Club World Cup final. Corinthians beat African champions Al-Ahly from Egypt with 1:0 in the other semi-final.
The FIFA Club World Cup features champion clubs from each of the six continental confederations, as well as the league winner from the host nation. The 2012 tournament also features the implementation of goal-line technology for the first time in a major Fifa competition.
The competition is also a massive opportunity for Benitez to win acceptance from Chelsea supporters who resent him from his past history with Liverpool. Under Benitez, Chelsea only won 1 out of 4 Premier League games. Chelsea tied Manchester City 0:0, Fulham 0:0 and lost to West Ham 1:3 before securing the first 3-pointer last week against Sunderland.
The next Premier League game for Chelsea will be on December 23rd against Aston Villa.
