Emerson Palmieri may be the third-choice left back at Chelsea these days (and linked with Juventus on the regular), but he’s immediately become the club’s first-choice video game representative after beating Watford’s Andre Gray 4-2 in yesterday’s opening round of the second ever e-Premier League FIFA 20 Invitational Tournament.
Emerson, who was a last-minute replacement for Billy Gilmour, thus became the first player to win a game of FIFA 20 while representing Chelsea, after César Azpilicueta and Reece James failed to do so.
Thanks to goals from virtual Olivier Giroud, Willian, Mateo Kovačić (whaaa?), and Jorginho (a penalty of course), and a Man of the Match performance from Kepa Arrizabalaga, Emerson turned it on after half-time when the scores were level, and pulled away from his opponent with a three-goal second-half burst.
Gray was left shaking his head after virtual Kepa pulled off several excellent stops. “Their goalkeeper was man of the match!” he was heard exclaiming.
Emerson now moves into the quarterfinals, where he will take on the winner of Max Aarons (Norwich) vs. Ryan Sessegnon (Spurs).
Chelsea vs. Spurs could add some spice into the proceedings.