(Football news) Chelsea appear to have finally found some much needed momentum, securing a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League. Having succumbed to a 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture, Graham Potter’s side had their work cut out for them in what is the only competition where they can realistically win a trophy.

The Blues recently defeated Leeds 1-0 and carried that momentum in this fixture, taking the lead through Raheem Sterling in the 43rd minute, thereby levelling the score on aggregate. Kai Havertz then doubled the advantage from a retaken penalty in the 53rd minute after Marius Wolf was penalised for handball.

Confidence was not high in Chelsea’s camp heading into this match as the Blues had only scored twice in their previous seven games but now appear to have finally turned a corner and ease some pressure on Graham Potter.

The decision to allow Kai Havertz to retake the penalty was a controversial one, with Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham saying “It is a yard or two away. That in itself was disappointing, but the fact they had a retake is a joke. For every penalty with such a slow run up there is going to be encroachment by people running into the box by a yard or so, but that’s the game. They’ve made the decision. We have to live with it.” 

As per the rules, encroachment by an attacking player leads to the penalty being retaken (if penalty was scored) or indirect free-kick (if penalty was not scored). If the encroachment was done by a defending player, the goal is given if the penalty is converted successfully or it’s retaken if the goal was not scored. If the encroachment occurs by both attacking and defending players, the penalty is retaken irrespective of the outcome.

In team news for Chelsea, Reece James featured in the starting lineup along with Marc Cucurella as Graham Potter featured three at the back. As for Dortmund, Alexander Meyer replaced Gregor Kobel in goal while Marco Reus started in place of Kevin Adeyemi in attack.

Speaking after the match, Graham Potter said “There is a lot of emotion in the end. It was tense in the end but the boys played fantastic. I am delighted for them to get the win and great for everyone here. There was a fantastic feeling in the dressing room. We have been through a tough period and this competition means a lot for us.

“We wanted to progress and get into the last eight and it sets us up for the next few weeks. We have to recover and prepare for Saturday when we play Leicester. It is great for the boys, two clean sheets after a tough period. You get that in life and it is about how you respond and the players have been fantastic. 

“It was important we put pressure on them and get the crowd with us. It is not easy to do because they are a top team playing with confidence. Credit to the players they gave everything and over the two games I thought we deserved to go through.”

When asked about Kai Havertz’s retaken penalty, Potter replied “Not a massive amount to be honest. I knew they had encroached. It was between him or Reece [to take it]. Sometimes they have to feel it on the pitch. Obviously we have confidence in Kai. I wasn’t watching it but delighted when I heard the roar. Taking penalties is not for me, so I am in awe of anybody [who does].”

Borussia Dortmund boss Edin Terzic said “Congratulations to Chelsea. I think it was a very tight game. In these kinds of games, inches or moments decide whether you go to the next round or not. There were some moments when we were unlucky but this is also part of the game, so we won’t complain. I think both teams deserved to go to the next round but tonight, Chelsea scored twice, we haven’t, so we can’t complain about getting dropped out of the Champions League. 

“If a decision takes about five or six minutes then it’s not easy to make a call. But as the manager of the team, I ‘m responsible for the performance of the team and the performance of the staff, but not the performance of the referee. We didn’t speak about the referee a lot last week and we won’t start with that tonight.” 

Also read: Chelsea back to winning ways while Spurs suffer a shock defeat to Wolves