Joao Pedro felt he was dreaming after scoring twice on his full Chelsea debut to send them into the Club World Cup final.
The Brazil forward, who only completed his £60million move to the Blues from Brighton last week, struck in each half against his former club Fluminense to secure a 2-0 win in Tuesday’s semi-final in New York.
The Premier League side, who are now guaranteed a payday of around £80million, will face either Paris St Germain or Real Madrid in the final on Sunday.
Pedro was delighted with his performance although, having muted his celebrations in front of his old fans, he admitted to mixed feelings.
The 23-year-old told DAZN: “I think it was a dream. I don’t think it could have been better – two goals. Now we need to think about the final.
“I am happy to score my first goals for Chelsea but also I know this tournament is very important for Fluminense.
“I can just say sorry but I have to be professional. I play for Chelsea. They pay me to score goals and today I was happy to score.
“Now I need to rest, focus on the final because I think it will be a very important game.”
Pedro opened the scoring with a fine curling strike from outside the area in the 18th minute and then doubled the lead with a ferocious shot off the underside of the bar just before the hour.
It was a controlled, professional performance from Chelsea, although they had a scare at 1-0 when a penalty was awarded to Fluminense for handball against Trevoh Chalobah. It was overturned following a VAR review.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said: “It is a great achievement. It has been a fantastic season – top four in the Premier League, Conference League (winners) and now in the final of this competition. We are so, so happy.”
On the performance of Pedro, Maresca added: “We know that we have players that are able to do that and we know we have to help them get in situations where they can do that and we know Joao can do this.”
The match was Chelsea’s 63rd of a long 2024-25 campaign that began last August.
“We go game by game,” said Maresca. “Finally we have the last game of the season and hopefully we can win the tournament.”
The downside for Chelsea was the ankle injury suffered by midfielder Moises Caicedo in the closing stages.
Maresca said: “I told him that he has to do everything to be on the pitch on Sunday so we will see.”
Fluminense coach Renato Gaucho felt the outcome might have been different had the penalty decision stood.
He said: “We knew there would be strong pressure from Chelsea and we would have to suffer.
“They knew how to take their opportunities and unfortunately we didn’t make the most of ours.
“There was the penalty disallowed. A few would give it and others wouldn’t. If they had awarded the penalty it would have been a different story.”
