(Football news) Chelsea have one foot in the quarterfinals after they won 2-0 against Lille. Christian Pulisic secured a victory for Chelsea in their round-of-16 first leg against Lille at Stamford Bridge and it will take a monumental task for Lille to overturn the result at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.
Kai Havertz was starting up front in place of Romelu Lukaku who was benched after his dreadful performance against Crystal Palace last weekend. Havertz justified his selection and gave Chelsea the lead within the first 10 minutes before Christian Pulisic doubled the score after the hour mark in a dominant display from Thomas Tuchel's side. They managed to capitalise on their early pressure through Havertz after just eight minutes when Chelsea won a corner and Hakim Ziyech sent a whipping ball into the box which was met by Havertz who was there to head it into the net after missing two very easy chances earlier.
Lille at certain occasions knocked the ball around intelligently in Chelsea's half but they never threatened Edouard Mendy or even the Chelsea defence, with Thiago Silva being the usually rock solid defender and N'Golo Kante delivering another remarkable all-action midfield display, it was almost impossible for Lille to get a foothold in the game. Kante then went on an imperious run and then set up Pulisic for the second goal in the 63rd minutes from who dug out a clever curled finish past Lille keeper Jardim. The reigning champions have a foot in the Champions league quarter final as it would need something of a remarkable comeback from the defending french champions who are struggling for form this season. With the Champions league fixture out of the way Chelsea will focus on the EFL cup final which is on the 27th.
"We knew it was a difficult game. They played very good football. The first half was difficult for us. It's half time now, and we have to win there as well. We have a lot of good strikers, so it's always good to change, to not make it easy for the opponent. We didn't play our best football, it was hard, but the win is the most important thing, and it's another competition on Sunday [against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final]. We have a chance to win another trophy on Sunday, we hope to win this game."Havertz said after the game
“For Kai, I'm very pleased. He's been very strong for several weeks now. He really stepped up. The work rate is immense. The areas of the pitch he covers for us are very good. He is never shy of defending. Romelu struggled in the last game to deliver. Not only mentally tired, but physically, which I can understand. It was the moment to take a step back. Today we went with other players. For Sunday we have four days to recover and decide who plays" Tuchel said.
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