Chelsea dominated from the start and pressured Benfica.
But it took a while into the second half before the zero was broken. In the 64th minute, the team captain, right-back Reece James, precisely scored a free kick behind Benfica goalkeeper Anatolij Trubin.
With only four minutes left of regular time, the weather struck instead. Strict rules meant that the match, which was played in Charlotte, North Carolina, had to be paused.
When the event resumed after nearly two hours, Benfica had more energy. In stoppage time, the team was awarded a penalty – which Ángel Di María handled coolly.
In extra time, Gianluca Prestianni from Benfica was sent off after his second yellow card.
Then the dam broke. Through a goal fireworks by Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Chelsea advanced in the tournament.
The drama lasted a total of four hours and 39 minutes.
In Saturday evening's other round of 16, Palmeiras drew the longest straw. Botafogo was defeated 1–0 after Paulinho scored in extra time.
This means that Chelsea and Palmeiras will meet in the quarterfinals.
The Chelsea match is the sixth to be interrupted due to bad weather during the tournament, writes AFP. Coach Enzo Maresca was critical afterwards.
It's a joke, it's not football, he said.
I can understand that you have to interrupt for safety reasons. But if you stop seven or eight matches, maybe this is not the right place for this tournament.
