Chelsea through to Club World Cup knockouts, Benfica beat Bayern
AFP | Philadelphia
Chelsea beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-0 on Tuesday to set up a Club World Cup last-16 tie against Benfica, who defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 earlier in searing heat.
Elsewhere minnows Auckland City claimed a memorable draw against Boca Juniors while Los Angeles FC bowed out of the tournament with a stalemate against Flamengo.
In Charlotte , Andreas Schjelderup scored the only goal for Benfica in their Group C clash with Bayern in front of 33,287 fans, finishing first-time from a cutback by his fellow Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes in the 13th minute.
The German champions, who left the likes of Harry Kane and Michael Olise on the bench at kick-off, were unable to come back in sweltering afternoon conditions in heatwave-hit North Carolina.
Kane and Olise came on at half-time and Bayern did then look more dangerous, but Leroy Sane was denied when clean through by Benfica's Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.
A draw would have allowed Bayern to top the section but a Kimmich effort that found the net was ruled out for offside and Trubin denied Sane again while Kane mistimed a header late on.
It was Benfica's first ever win in 14 competitive meetings with Bayern and it meant they finished first and will next play Group D runners-up Chelsea in Charlotte in the last 16 on Saturday.
'I think this was a very fair and important win, historic really,' said Benfica coach Bruno Lage.
'We were as straightforward and assertive as we should be and I think we were very effective in delivering our strategy today.'
Bayern finished second and so will go to Miami on Sunday to take on Brazilian giants Flamengo, with a potential quarter-final against European champions Paris Saint-Germain awaiting.
'You could see that it was really tough conditions so respect to both teams for that,' said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany.
'Our first half was not good enough for sure, the second half was definitely more the level that we expected and good enough to score one or two or three goals.'
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