Chelsea put their off-field troubles to 1 facet to seal a spot within the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday as a Cesar Azpilicueta objective clinched a 2-1 win at Lille within the second leg of their last-16 tie, and a 4-1 mixture victory.
Reeling from the impression of UK authorities sanctions imposed on their Russian billionaire proprietor Roman Abramovich, the London membership appeared rattled as they fell behind in northern France to a first-half Burak Yilmaz penalty.
Lille had given themselves an opportunity of salvaging the tie following their 2-0 defeat within the first leg at Stamford Bridge final month, however Christian Pulisic equalised on the evening in first-half stoppage time and captain Azpilicueta bought the winner within the 71st minute.
The reigning Ligue 1 champions exit, and following Paris Saint-Germain’s beautiful exit final week it means there can be no French membership in Friday’s draw for the Champions League quarter-finals.
In distinction, defending European champions Chelsea make it three Premier League golf equipment within the hat as they be part of Liverpool and Manchester City within the final eight.
“It has not been a traditional previous couple of weeks however we have now to do what’s in our palms, which is practice the perfect we will. Tonight it was a tough sport and naturally we’re blissful to undergo,” Azpilicueta told British broadcaster BT Sport.
“This group fights against everything, we know we have to do the best we can on the pitch, we stick together and hopefully end up having a very good season.”
Coach Thomas Tuchel had insisted there may very well be no excuses for his workforce regardless of the Blues being left in turmoil after Abramovich’s belongings have been frozen, with Chelsea solely being allowed to proceed working by the British authorities below a particular licence.
They have been banned from promoting tickets and have been advised they might not spend greater than £20,000 ($26,300) per match on journey prices, throwing their plans for this journey throughout the English Channel into some disarray.
Before kick-off on Wednesday it emerged that the Ricketts household, homeowners of Major League Baseball workforce the Chicago Cubs, have been main a consortium seeking to purchase the membership whereas British athletics nice Sebastian Coe introduced his involvement in a rival bid.
– Penalty offers Lille hope –
On the pitch Lille seemed decided so as to add to Chelsea’s woes as they began at a superb tempo and Yilmaz twice got here shut within the early levels.
The guests misplaced Danish defender Andreas Christensen to damage simply after the half-hour mark, and his substitute, Trevoh Chalobah, was booked for knocking down Jonathan David inside seconds of approaching.
Lille then gained a penalty within the thirty eighth minute when Italian referee Davide Massa was alerted by the VAR to a handball within the field by Jorginho.
He pointed to the spot after reviewing the pictures, and veteran Turkish striker Yilmaz made no mistake.
Yet the house facet, crucially, couldn’t maintain their lead till the break.
In the third added minute Jorginho slid a terrific go into the trail of Pulisic within the field, and the United States worldwide discovered the far nook.
That took the sting out of the sport and Lille’s remaining hopes of a comeback have been ended after they misplaced two of their defenders, Zeki Celik and Sven Botman, to damage simply earlier than the hour mark.
Xeka rattled the publish with a header from a Yilmaz cross within the 63rd minute however similar to their solely earlier last-16 look –- a defeat towards Manchester United in 2007 -– Lille discovered English opposition to be simply too sturdy.
“The gamers may be actually proud as a result of they performed rather well towards an important workforce. We didn’t should lose tonight,” insisted Lille coach Jocelyn Gourvennec.
Lose they did as Chelsea got their second goal when substitute Mason Mount’s cross from the left was turned in by the knee of Azpilicueta at the back post, and the skipper ran across to celebrate with the travelling support high in the far corner of the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
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