Chelsea rebuild at home to eliminate Dortmund and go to the quarterfinals
Goals from Sterling and Havertz turn the tie around after the 1-0 first leg
MADRID, March 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The English Chelsea got this Tuesday the pass to the quarterfinals of the Champions League after beating (2-0) the German Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge after a hard-fought victory with which they came back from the tie after 1-0 in the one way at Signal Iduna Park.
The team led by Graham Potter, who fought and stopped Dortmund’s positive inertia with a gear based on world-class ‘cracks’ such as Joao Félix, Kai Havertz or Raheem Sterling, continued their good form after the victory (1- 0) last Saturday against Leeds, after adding six games without winning, and with only one goal in favor.
Sterling’s goal late in the first half and Havertz’s from the penalty spot early in the second were enough to turn around a tie that dropped Dortmund in London. The German team brought their unbeaten streak to a halt after chaining ten consecutive victories in all competitions.
At Stamford Bridge, London traffic prevented Borussia Dortmund from arriving on time for a match that had to start ten minutes late. In addition, Julian Brandt’s injury after five minutes condemned the German team at the start of the game, with a much more incisive Chelsea. Even so, the passing of the minutes settled the Teutonic team in the opposite field of play, deactivating at times the game plan of the locals.
The first chance came in the boots of Marco Reus, who forced Kepa to stretch to avoid the first set piece from the front, but the London team knew how to react with a shot to the post from Havertz and another from Joao Félix that ran into with Mayer. In a frantic end to the first half it was finally Sterling who found the prize of the goal, after taking advantage of a Chillwell cross into the heart of the area with which he equalized the contention.
Already in the second half, the London team finished turning the tie around from the penalty spot. Although Havertz hit the post with his first shot, the referee’s order to repeat the maximum penalty allowed the German to score on his second attempt. From there, Borussia took a step forward, locking the English team in their area, but the lack of success ended up condemning them
In the end, the ‘blue’ defensive solidity, with Reece James and Cucurrella teaching, and the good work of a great Kepa sustained the local team in an intrepid end of the game. Although Bellingham and Reyna did not stop trying until the end, the score did not move again until the final whistle.
DATA SHEET.
–RESULT: CHELSEA, 2 – BORUSSIA DORTMUND, 0.
–LINE-UPS.
CHELSEA: Kepa; W. Fofana, Koulibaly, Cucurella; Reece James, Kovacic (Pilisic, min.83), Enzo Fernández (Zacaria, min.87), Chilwell; Sterling (Loftus-Cheek, min.83), Havertz and Joao Félix (Gallagher, min.67).
BORUSSIA DORTMUND: Meyer-Schade; Wolf, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Brandt (Reyna, min.5), Bellingham, Can, Ozcan (Bynoe-Gittens, min.64), Reus; Haller (Malen, min.77).
–GOALS:
1-0, minute 43. Sterling.
2-0, minute 53. Havertz.
–REFEREE: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands). He admonished Sule (min.41), Wolf (min.92) and Bellingham (min.98) by Borussia Dortmund, and Arrizabalaga (min.65), Enzo Fernández (min.78), Chilwell (min.92) and Cucurella (min.96) by Chelsea.
–STADIUM: Stamford Bridge.