Lille vs Chelsea LIVE: Champions League result and final score after Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta goals
Burak Yilmaz put the French side ahead, but Pulisic and Azpilicueta responded to put the holders into the quarter-finals
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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.
Lille 1-1 Chelsea, 46 minutes
Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic are now playing inside left and inside right, respectively, it appears, in support of Kai Havertz, with N’Golo Kante and Jorginho forming a deeper midfield two.
Mount is caught on the ankle and limps away as Marcos Alonso readies a delivery into the box.
Here comes Mount
Yep, Mason Mount is standing by the fourth official as he waits for the right numbers to be inputted on the LED board.
He is on for...Mateo Kovacic.
Half-time changes?
It sounds like Chelsea may be mulling a half-time alteration in Lille. Mason Mount is warming up. Thomas Tuchel has already brought on Trevoh Chalobah, who relieved a stricken Andreas Christensen about half-an-hour in. The Danish defender had landed heavily after tumbling over Burak Yilmaz while winning a header.
Half-time Chelsea off-field news
Back to matters on the pitch in a moment, but in the last hour Lord Sebastian Coe, former middle-distance runner and Olympics supremo, has joined Martin Broughton’s consortium bid to buy Chelsea.
Lord Coe joins Sir Martin Broughton consortium bid for Chelsea
The London 2012 Olympics chief has thrown his weight behind former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton’s attempt to buy the club
H/T: Lille 1-1 Chelsea (1-3 agg.)
A chance of reasonably few clear openings, with a single shot on target for each side, and it is Chelsea who will enter the happier after that Christian Pulisic equaliser. Thomas Tuchel’s side have been far from their best despite a healthy possession advantage (59% the visitors’ way through 45 minutes) but they have, largely, kept Lille at bay, even with a clamorous crowd giving it their all. A 3-1 aggregate lead looks large-ish.
HALF TIME: LILLE 1-1 CHELSEA (1-3 ON AGGREGATE)
GOAL! Lille 1-1 CHELSEA (1-3 agg.) (Christian Pulisic, 45 + 3 minutes)
There it is for Chelsea! It’s a lovely goal, too, Jorginho stepping up from midfield as a ball is rolled inwards to him and then producing a delightful through ball with the outside of his boot, curving temptingly into the path of Christian Pulisic.
Pulisic picks his spot in the far corner and fires across Leo Jardim to level the scores on the night and re-establish the two-goal cushion in the tie on the stroke of half-time.
Lille 1-0 Chelsea, 45 + 1 minutes
There has just been something off about this Chelsea performance, which would be, somewhat, understandable. They certainly haven’t matched the consistent intensity of Lille so far, and there hasn’t been too much in the way of attacking invention.
Lille 1-0 Chelsea, 45 minutes
Three additional minutes to account for Andreas Christensen’s injury and the VAR review that resulted in the awarding of the penalty.
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