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Mother Nature couldn't have waited just a few more minutes? The cruel mistress really made her mark on Charlotte on Saturday - and Chelsea, for that matter.

With around 86 minutes on the clock at the Bank of America Stadium, the stadium announcer asked supporters to "seek shelter" due to adverse weather conditions. A big rumble of thunder followed, with a strike of lightning illuminating the sky, to confirm the concerns.

The referee then told the players to head down the tunnel. There were only a few minutes of normal time left to play in Charlotte, but everyone's safety was the major concern.

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There was then a 120-minute wait until play resumed in Pennsylvania. Benfica had around five minutes - and stoppage time - to find an equaliser. Chelsea knew they had to stand firm after such an impressive performance up until the stoppage.

A game that was under completely control - with Chelsea leading 1-0 thanks to Reece James' free-kick - suddenly became more complicated. However, despite the complications, Chelsea managed to hold on and book their place in the quarter-final of the FIFA Club World Cup, where they will take on Palmeiras on Friday.

But the main talking point of the game was when the game was not happening. Bizarrely. Anyway, Bobby Vincent was at the stadium in Charlotte and can give you some sort of behind-the-scenes look at what happened.

When the decision to suspend play became apparent, it was very clear the players and staff did not agree. Footballers want to play football, and with the match so close to being over, there was a sense of: 'Let's just get this done'.

That, however, was not a possibility. The health and safety of those inside the stadium was the priority - and rightly so. It was frustrating, granted, but that thunderstorm was no joke.

Us journalists were then trying to find the latest updates. There was a poor gentleman who worked for FIFA who was being bombarded with questions. "Any update?", "When does play restart?", so on, so on. He was very helpful, too, but a lot of it was up in the air. Pardon the pun.

One hour passed and soon it was two. Not a soul to be seen inside the stadium. Surely, at that point, supporters may as well have gone home. It was a lot of standing around and waiting for a few minutes. But fair play to those who did stick around - there were plenty of them that re-emerged for the restart.

They were treated for even more drama. Thankfully, it was on the pitch. Moments after the game got back underway, Benfica were awarded a controversial penalty after Malo Gusto was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box.

Angel Di Maria stood up to the task and - in extremely cool fashion - slid the ball past Robert Sanchez. Chelsea were in such control yet they were heading to extra-time. After a two-hour delay. You could not write it.

Another 30 minutes awaited and there were concerns over more adverse weather playing its part. Dark clouds continued to loom over the Bank of America Stadium but play resumed. And so did normal service.

Chelsea started to dominate once again in extra-time and when Benfica went down to 10 men early on, their superiority would only grow. Christopher Nkunku scored the Blues' second goal - a goal that came from pure chaos and a mess inside the Benfica box. It could not have encapsulated the whole experience in Charlotte any more.

Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall added goals for Chelsea later in extra-time to consolidate the side's return to Philadelphia. Ultimately, Chelsea got the job done but that did not take away from Enzo Maresca's fury over the whole situation. The Blues head coach used the word "joke" on multiple occasions in his fiery post-match press conference.

He was angry with the whole situation and how he had to manage his players in rather unprecedented circumstances in Charlotte. Resting for so long, albeit trying to keep warm, and then being told to go again for some intense final minutes - added to by Benfica's late equaliser - was difficult for every player on the pitch.

"It's not football," was another phrase Maresca repeated. For European teams, having a game suspended for adverse weather conditions will come as a shock but for those based in the United States, it is fairly standard. In fact, it was the sixth suspension already in the Club World Cup.

Chelsea conducted their media duties in record time as they had a flight to Miami - where they will be training in preparation for the clash with Palmeiras in Philadelphia - to catch. Frustrations may well still be there while the team are in the air but ultimately, there will be happiness and satisfaction that they made a good Benfica side look incredibly ordinary.