Chelsea beat Dortmund 2-0 to reach Champions League quarters
A 2-0 victory at home in the second leg helped Chelsea win the tie 2-1 against Dortmund, thereby securing a spot in the Champions League quarter-finals.
After a 1-0 defeat away from home, Chelsea needed a two-goal victory at home in the round of 16-second leg to progress, and the team under the guidance of coach Tuchel succeeded.
With a 2-0 victory over Dortmund at home, Chelsea staged a successful comeback to win 2-1 overall. The goals for the Stamford Bridge team were scored by Sterling in the 43rd minute and Havertz in the 53rd minute.
The victory over Leeds last weekend helped relieve some of the pressure on Chelsea due to poor form recently. Potter’s squad started with confidence at home against Dortmund. In the 2nd minute, Havertz provided a good pass for Sterling to face the opposing goalkeeper, but unfortunately, the English striker was slow to react and could not shoot.
Dortmund pushed up their formation, making the match exciting with sharp Chelsea attacks. The home team attacked better than the visitors, continuously creating threatening situations for Meyer’s goal. In the 27th minute, Havertz shot from outside the penalty area, hitting the right post and bouncing out.
In the 40th minute, Koulibaly joined the free-kick. The Chelsea center-back hit the ball from about 3m, the ball hit the crossbar and hit the Dortmund goalkeeper’s body before bouncing back. It was quite unbelievable that Koulibaly could miss a chance to score from such a close distance.
Chelsea’s lack of luck in scoring ended in the 43rd minute. Sterling received the ball inside the penalty area, the English player’s shot missed the target, but luckily, the ball stayed with him. After pushing the ball past a defender, Sterling took another shot and the ball went high, smashing into the net of the Dortmund goal.
After halftime, Chelsea continued to attack in search of more goals. In the 47th minute, the referee consulted VAR and awarded Chelsea a penalty after Wolf touched the ball with his hand inside the penalty area of Chiwell. That was a correct decision. In the 50th minute, Havertz stepped up to take the penalty, but his shot hit the crossbar.
VAR was again involved when they believed that a Dortmund player had committed a foul while Havertz was taking the penalty. The referee gave the home team another penalty. This time, Havertz beat Meyer to put the ball into the net, raising the score to 2-0.
Facing elimination, Dortmund fought back. In the 58th minute, Bellingham hit the ball from a distance of 5m, but the ball went out of play, which was unfortunate. Three minutes later, Can take a powerful shot from the right side, and Kepa made a great save. Chelsea defended fiercely in the remaining time of the second half. However, despite creating some opportunities, the home team could not add to their lead. The final score remained 2-0 in favor of Chelsea, securing their spot in the quarter-finals.
Line-up Chelsea vs Dortmund:
- Chelsea (343): Kepa 7; Fofana 7, Koulibaly 7, Cucurella 7; James 7.5, Kovacic 7 (Loftus-Cheek 83), Enzo 7.5 (Zakaria 87), Chilwell 8; Sterling 7 (Pulisic 83), Havertz 6.5, Felix 6.5 (Gallagher 67, 6).
- Dortmund (4141): Meyer 6; Wolf 6, Sule 6, Schlotterbeck 6, Guerreiro 6; Can 6.5; Brandt 5 (Reyna 5, 6), Bellingham 6.5, Ozcan 6, (Bynoe-Gittens 65), Reus 6; Haller 6 (Malen 77).”
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