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 0-0 Chelsea, 5 minutes
Lille pressed high and hard in the first leg, but Chelsea were largely able to withstand those rigours and manufacture a way around the French side. It appears that they will try again to trouble Chelsea in such a manner, and Edouard Mendy misplaces a lofted diagonal out of play on the right.
Lille 0-0 Chelsea, 4 minutes
Off goes the German again, this time up the right, but Sven Botman handles him well, flicking a leg to knock the ball against Havertz and out for a goal kick.
Lille 0-0 Chelsea, 3 minutes
The Lille fans lift the noise, providing aural disruption as Chelsea try to settle into this contest with possession for the first time. Kai Havertz spins his man in the centre circle and is duly fouled by Xeka, preventing him further escaping.
Lille 0-0 Chelsea, 2 minutes
Jonathan Bamba fails to beat Kai Havertz at the near post, and a secondary delivery into the box is claimed in reasonable comfort by Edouard Mendy.
Lille 0-0 Chelsea, 1 minute
As expected, two similar formations, with three/five at the back, a midfield trio and then two forwards. Lille have the ball in attacking areas first ,and Gabriel Gudmundsson earns a corner off the knee of Andreas Christensen.
KICK OFF!
The whistle blows, the players take a knee, and at Davide Massa’s second peeping the game begins.
Out come the players
The Stade Pierre-Mauroy turns ten this summer, situated between Lille and Roubaix in Villeneuve-d’Ascq in famous sporting cuntry, and it looks to be positively bouncing ahead of this second leg. Can the home side overturn the deficit?
Match Officials
It’s an Italian officiating team tonight, led by referee Davide Massa.
Lille vs Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel has had a relatively uneventful pre-match chat with BT Sport, but had this to say when asked if he felt his players could forget off-field matters and focus on Lille: “Yeah, I think so.
“We’re happy to be here, not so many changes for the team and that’s why we’re in the same position - to focus on sport.”
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