Why Reece James was removed from Chelsea starting lineup vs Palmeiras at last moment

Chelsea have been in action overnight, taking on Palmeiras in the quarter-final of the Club World Cup in Philadelphia.

And it was a good night for the Blues as they booked their place in the semi-finals of the tournament in the United States with a 2-1 win over the South American side.

Cole Palmer gave Chelsea a deserved lead in the 17th minute, taking a pass from Trevoh Chalobah and shimmying away from the attentions of two Palmeiras defenders to find himself a bit of space in which to slot a cool finish past Weverton.

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But after the brak Palmeiras levelled and of course it had to be Estevao Willian - the player joining Chelsea once this competition is over. From an almost impossible angle, the teenager rocketed a shiot in off Robert Sanchez's crossbar and celebrated like mad too.

Chelsea won it late on through a bit of a freak goal, with Malo Gusto's shot on 83 minutes deflecting into his own net by Agustin Giay, with keeper Weverton unable to stop it.

There was confusion as the teams emerged for kick-off at Lincoln Financial Field, however, with one name on the teamsheet not coming out to play.

Reece James was named in the Chelsea starting XI for the clash, with the captain's armband as expected, but did not emerge from the tunnel for kick-off. Instead, youngster Andrey Santos took his place, having initially been named on the substitutes' bench.

James has had his fair share of injuries during his career and it was an injury picked up in the warm-up for the clash in Philadelphia that was the reason behind his absence. football.london does not know any more at this stage, but hopefully it is not a significant injury for the Blues skipper.

Enzo Fernandez wore the captain's armband in James' absence.