Chelsea have done an excellent job with a view to reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The team of manager Thomas Tuchel was 2-0 too strong at home on Tuesday evening for Lille OSC, which barely appeared in the game. Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic accounted for the goals. A big blemish on the victory was the failure of Hakim Ziyech. The former Ajax player had to stop the fight after an hour. The question is whether he can be patched up in time for the EFL Cup final against Liverpool on Sunday. The return in the eighth final of the Champions League is on March 16.
Tuchel surprisingly chose to run without Romelu Lukaku. The striker is clearly not in shape and saw Havertz taken the striker position against Lille. The German formed a vanguard with Ziyech and Pulisic. Chelsea usually provides good figures against French opponents. Only one of the last ten home games against a French opponent has been lost. In addition, Tuchel’s team has managed to keep a clean sheet 13 times since the start of the previous Champions League season, more than any other club. The Blues started energetically and took the lead within ten minutes.
And it’s also early at Chelsea – Lille! † Kai Havertz opens the scoring for The Blues: 1-0 ???? The assist is for Hakim Ziyech! †#ZiggoSport #UCL #CHELIL pic.twitter.com/EFFwEvrMMJ
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) February 22, 2022
After Havertz had killed two more chances, it was right on the third time. After a measured corner from Ziyech, the attacker successfully put his head against the ball for the opening goal. The German proved his trainer right. Before the goal, Havertz shot over from close range and saw a bet being cleverly taken by Léo Jardim. Chelsea had very little to fear from Lille. The most danger came from Renato Sanches’ foot, although the Portuguese lacked precision in the final phase. Jocelyn Gourvennec’s team couldn’t manage to put together a decent attack in the first company.
Oh no! An injury for Hakim Ziyech and he goes off the field… ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #CHELOSC pic.twitter.com/Y60oLCyc4Y
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) February 22, 2022
The entertainment value was also significantly low in the second company. In addition, Chelsea soon had to deal with a major setback, when Ziyech had to be replaced after an hour. The attacker-cum-midfielder seemed to stumble and grabbed his ankle. Five minutes later, the home team doubled the score. N’Golo Kante steamed up the axis of the field and gave the ball wide at just the right moment to Pulisic, who had a breeze to work the 2-0 behind Jardim. The most dangerous moment on the part of the visitors came from the head of Sven Botman. The centre-back, who played the entire game, saw his header from about ten meters end up in the hands of Édouard Mendy.
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