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Chelsea do half the job against Lille

 February 23, 2022

Chelsea accomplished half of the task of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, by defeating its guest, Lille, on Tuesday evening, in the first leg of the round of 16.

The Blues double signed Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic in the 8th and 63rd minutes.

Chelsea coach, Thomas Tuchel, excluded striker Romelu Lukaku from the starting lineup, within the method of play (3-4-3).

Tuchel involved Havertz in the front line between the wings Ziyech and Pulisic, and N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic were stationed in the midfield.

Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso were present on the outskirts, while Thiago Silva led the back line, along with Andreas Christensen and Rudiger.

On the other hand, Lille resorted to the method of play (4-3-3), and the defense consisted of Mihmet Celik, Jose Fonte, Sven Putman, and Thiago Dagalo.

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Chica played the role of the center player, and in front of him stood Amadou Mfume Onana and Benjamin Andre, behind the attacking trio, Renato Sanchez, Jonathan David and Jonathan Bamba.

Chelsea almost opened the scoring in the fourth minute, when Azpilicueta sent a low ball in front of the goal from the right side, followed by Haverz away from the goal.

Lille responded in the seventh minute, when Bamba raised a cross, which was kept away by Chelsea’s defense, to reach Chica, who fired a left shot that went wide of the goal.

Moments later, Chelsea launched a counter-attack, and Pulisic passed to Haveritz, who got rid of his sergeant, before goalkeeper Jardim saved his attempt.

But Haveritz compensated for wasting two chances, by opening the scoring in the eighth minute, when Ziyech took a corner, which the German star headed into the net.

Rudiger sent Renato Sanchez a cross from the right, but sent the ball just over his team’s goal in the 11th minute.

Onana continued a corner kick taken by Bamba, next to the home side’s goal in the 15th minute.

N’Golo Kante spotted his team-mate, Marcos Alonso, on the left side and passed the ball to him, but the Spain international hit the Lille goalkeeper’s place.

Lille tried to equalize the score in the 24th minute, but Christensen stood in front of Chica’s shot from the outskirts of the penalty area in the 24th minute.

Sanchez got rid of Azpilicueta on the left side, before moving deep and firing a long-range shot that passed over Chelsea’s goal in the 39th minute.

Chelsea started the second half with a quick start from Pulisic, who passed to Ziyech, but the latter was unable to shoot away from Butman.

Sanchez was unable to deal with a cross towards the far post from Bamba in the 49th minute.

The injury forced Kovacic off the field, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek replaced him.

Alonso’s attempt rebounded from full-back Celek in the 53rd minute, and Pulisic passed the ball to Hart, who fired over Lille’s goal in the 58th minute.

Saul entered the Chelsea squad in place of Ziyech, before the hosts were able to consolidate their lead in the 63rd minute, when Kante ran and passed on the left side of the penalty area to Pulisic, who shot in the far corner the moment the goalkeeper came out to confront him.

Lille included its veteran Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz, and Butman was close to reducing the difference in the 71st minute, but his header settled between goalkeeper Edward Mendy.

Calm prevailed over the performance of the two teams in the last 10 minutes, despite the entry of Timo Werner in the Chelsea squad, and Hatem Ben Arfa in the ranks of Lille, and the latter’s shot rebounded from the Blues defense, ending the meeting with the Blues’ victory.

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