Christopher Nkunku scored off a rebound in extra time and Chelsea went on to beat Benfica 4-1 in a FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16 match on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., that was delayed for two hours due to lightning and took nearly five hours to complete.

Chelsea advances to play Palmeiras in the quarterfinals Friday in Philadelphia.

Nkunku’s tiebreaking goal came in the 108th minute with Benfica playing a man down after Gianluca Prestianni received a red card.

Moisés Caicedo’s left-footed shot from the left side of the box was saved in the center of the goal by Anatolii Trubin, but an alert Nkunku was there to bury the deflection into the top right corner before being mobbed by teammates.

Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall added insurance goals in extra time for the final margin.

Reece James scored on a free kick in the 64th minute to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead. That gave the Blues momentum after they failed to convert some decent looks in the first half.

Benfica seemed content to play defense most of the match and try to take advantage of its few chances. But the offense could not capitalize on the opportunities it generated.

With four minutes left, the match was stopped because of lightning and delayed for two hours. When the teams returned, Chelsea was called for a handball in stoppage time when the ball hit Malo Gusto’s hand.

Angel Di Maria converted the penalty to even the match.

“For 85 minutes we were in control. After the break, the match changed. It’s not the same game,” Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca said. “You suspend a game (for two hours), to me that’s not football. I struggle to understand it. ... We have been here two weeks and they have suspended six or seven games, so something is not working here.”

The Portuguese side had a chance to tie it in the 78th minute, but Gianluca Prestianni sent a right-footed shot from the right side of the box just left of the goal. Prestianni held his head in his hands in agony after the miss.

In the closing minutes, players were pulled off the field and fans told to seek cover due to lightning strikes in the area, although it did not rain at the stadium.

Chelsea entered with a 3-0 record against Benfica and controlled the tempo in the first half with a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. But despite possessing the ball more than 60% of the time, the Blues headed to locker room at halftime in a scoreless tie.

“In the first half our objective was to come forward although we were facing a very tough side,” said Benfica coach Bruno Lage

Palmeiras 1, Botafogo 0: In an all-Brazilian match, Paulinho worked his way between a pair of defenders and rolled a shot into the back of the net in extra time to put Palmeiras into the quarterfinals with a win at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Paulinho dribbled through the defense with an inside cut from the right wing in the 100th minute. He then sent a left-footed shot into the lower-left corner to beat goalkeeper John.

Palmeiras will face Chelsea next.

“Coach has been saying this since the start of the season that we have a dream and dreaming costs nothing,” said Palmeiras defender Bruno Fuchs. “We follow that dream one game after another. Always thinking about the present, about the next game. ... We’re very happy, we’re pleased to have qualified, and as I said, we have to keep dreaming.”

Palmeiras, ended the match with 10 men after defender Gustavo Gómez was given a red card. He was ejected after receiving a second yellow card in the 116th minute after tackling Igor Jesus in the midfield to prevent Botafogo from starting a counterattack.

Botafogo took advantage, creating multiple chances for an equalizer in the final minutes against but couldn’t get a goal and was eliminated.

“We leave with our head held high,” said Botafogo defender Vitinho. “We faced teams of a high level, the highest level in soccer. Of course, we wanted to go further and we prepared to go further, but things don’t always go the way we want them to.”