March 17, (THEWILL) – Chelsea were far from their best at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, but they still beat Lille 2-1 to clinch their spot in the Champions League quarter-finals.
In the early moments, the home crowd was thunderous, and Lille took full advantage of it. Chelsea’s high press proved an issue for them, and only Thiago Silva’s clever block kept them from falling behind to Burak Yilmaz after only ten minutes.
Chelsea waited around 20 minutes to really get into the game. Although clear-cut chances were scarce, Thomas Tuchel’s side began to pose questions to Lille’s defence.
Lille, on the other hand, responded brilliantly and had a chance to grab the lead from the penalty spot 36 minutes in when VAR flagged Jorginho for a handball. Yilmaz came up for the spot-kick and helped the hosts to a 1-0 lead.
However, the European champions snatched an equaliser against the run of play through Christian Pulisic, who tucked home a beautiful cross from Jorginho to restore his side’s aggregate lead just before the break.
Lille were not as hot at the start of the second half and the home crowd became more agitated, but they came within inches of retaking the lead early on. Jonathan Bamba’s fast feet set up Yilmaz’s attempt, which Mendy had to scramble to see wide.
Just a few minutes later, Xeka hit the post with a header, reminding Chelsea that the game was far from done. But, Chelsea made sure to keep the Lille side away from their net with over 20 minutes to go.
The visitors then took all three points on the night and won 4-1 on aggregate after a wonderful team goal that included a brilliant cross from Mason Mount and a scruffy finish from Cesar Azpilicueta. The game was suffocated by the strike, and Chelsea advanced to the next round.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
