The Chelsea players were left baffled by who won the Player of the Match award during their 3-0 win over ES Tunis in the Club World Cup on Tuesday night. Tosin Adarabioyo opened the scoring with a lofted header for a rotated squad just before halftime, while further goals from Liam Delap and Tyrique George ensured Enzo Maresca's side remained second in their group.
Among the top performers on what was a fairly routine night at Lincoln Financial Field was Enzo Fernandez, who provided two assists as the Argentina international continues to add goal contributions to his repertoire. Delap, the Blues' new signing from Ipswich Town, also held up play well and scored to stake his claim as Nicolas Jackson’s long-term replacement.
However, it was actually the first goalscorer, Tosin, who was named 'Superior Player of the Match' - and funny footage shared after the game showed that his teammates may have been a bit surprised by the decision, even though his header was a thing of beauty. Watch his goal below:
Chelsea Players Surprised By Tosin's Player of the Match Award
The 27-year-old is clearly very underrated, even by his teammates
Tosin Adarabioyo
While Chelsea stand by their principles of a revolving-door strategy, it's very easy for some talents to fade into nonexistence upon arrival at Stamford Bridge. Any hesitation over your qualities, and you can be discarded, thanks to the club's free-flowing money situation. But Tosin Adarabioyo, who joined from Fulham last year, has definitely been one to prove his worth.
He played 39 games across all competitions in his debut season and scored five goals from centre-back, establishing himself as a trusted member of Maresca's new-look Chelsea squad. He also appears to be a well-liked figure in the dressing room, judging by the sarcastic reaction from his teammates when he was handed the Player of the Match award. See below:
Both Romeo Lavia and Malo Gusto looked bewildered by Tosin's award, but the numbers behind his performance certainly speak for themselves. Across 90 minutes, he scored the opener, made four clearances, completed a tackle, maintained a passing accuracy of 97% from 120 passes, and won all of his aerial duels.
Next season, he and Levi Colwill are expected to continue forming a partnership at the heart of the defence and help take the Blues to the next level after a mixed 2024/25 campaign that saw Chelsea leave it late to qualify for the Champions League and win the Europa Conference League.
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