Pulisic and Azpilicueta see Chelsea through
Holders Chelsea made light of their off-pitch problems to reach the Champions League quarter-finals by beating Lille 2-1 away on Wednesday to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Holders Chelsea made light of their off-pitch problems to reach the Champions League quarter-finals by beating Lille 2-1 away on Wednesday to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory.
The Premier League side, playing amid sanctions imposed on their Russian owner Roman Abramovich following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, eased through thanks to goals by Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta. French champions Lille dominated for long spells and opened the scoring thanks to a Burak Yilmaz penalty in the opening half, but lacked precision up front and paid dearly for lapses in concentration.
Chelsea, operating on a special licence from the British government that has limited their spending and impacted their operations, showed great composure to ease into the last eight. Lille had made the better start to the match. Jocelyn Gouvennec's side put Chelsea on the back foot as Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho and N'Golo Kante struggled to take control of the midfield.
Lille were rewarded in the 38th minute when they were awarded a penalty following a VAR review after a Jorginho handball in the area. The 36-year-old Yilmaz, the third oldest scorer in the Champions League knockout stages after Paolo Maldini and Ryan Giggs, buried the spot-kick into the top corner to give the hosts a deserved lead and high hopes of an upset after losing the first leg 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Lille, who had not conceded a goal in their three Ligue 1 games since the first leg, let their guard down, however, and Chelsea punished them with their first shot on target as Pulisic collected a fine through ball from Jorginho to score with a low shot three minutes into first-half stoppage time.
Although they were hit by injuries which forced Sven Botman and Zeki Celik to leave the pitch, Lille applied more pressure after the break and Yilmaz wasted two clear chances. Chelsea were far more ruthless and after 71 minutes Mason Mount's cross bounced off Azpilicueta's knee into the top corner to end Lille's hopes of reaching the last eight.
- 30 Leonardo Cesar Jardim
- 6 Fonte
- 4 Sven Botman (57')
- 2 Zeki Celik (57')
- 3 Tiago Djalo
- 8 Xeka
- 21 Andre
- 5 gabriel Gudmundsson (77')
- 7 Jonathan Bamba (77')
- 17 Yilmaz
- 9 Jonathan David (76')
- Substitutes
- 24 Amadou Onana (57')
- 11 Ben Arfa (76')
- 20 Angel Gomes (77')
- 19 Isaac Lihadji
- 23 Edon Zhegrova
- 1 Ivo Grbic
- 29 Domagoj Bradaric (77')
- 22 Tim Weah (57')
- 40 Jules Raux
- 16 Edouard Mendy
- 2 Rüdiger
- 4 A. Christensen (32')
- 6 Thiago Silva
- 7 Kante
- 3 Marcos Alonso
- 5 Jorginho (73')
- 28 Azpilicueta
- 8 Kovacic (45')
- 29 Kai Havertz (82')
- 10 Christian Pulisic (73')
- Substitutes
- 23 Kenedy
- 13 Bettinelli
- 31 Malang Sarr
- 22 Hakim Ziyech (82')
- 1 Arrizabalaga
- 14 Trevoh Chalobah (32')
- 19 Mason Mount (45')
- 11 Timo Werner
- 9 Lukaku (73')
- 68 Harvey Vale
- 12 Loftus-Cheek (73')
Substitutions
Trevoh Chalobah (32', Andreas Christensen), Mason Mount (45', Mateo Kovacic), Amadou Mvom Onana (57', Sven Botman), Timothy Weah (57', Mehmet Zeki Çelik), Romelu Lukaku (73', Christian Pulisic), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (73', Jorginho), Hatem Ben Arfa (76', Jonathan David), Domagoj Bradaric (77', Gabriel Gudmundsson), Angel Gomes (77', Jonathan Bamba), Hakim Ziyech (82', Kai Havertz)
Goals
1-0, 37': Yilmaz, 1-1, 47': Christian Pulisic, 1-2, 70': Azpilicueta
Cards
Referee: Davide Massa
VAR Referee: Massimiliano Irrati, Maurizio Mariani
Trevoh Chalobah (33',Yellow) gabriel Gudmundsson (41',Yellow) Fonte (93',Yellow)