Chelsea Beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate score. This victory kept Chelsea’s season alive. The Blues relieved pressure on manager Graham Potter with goals from Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz, both of whom converted twice from penalties.
After a season in which a world-record investment of over £500 million ($600 million) in new signings has not yielded any results, the Englishman’s position was at risk.
Chelsea dropped to 10th place in the Premier League and out of both domestic cups early after winning just three of their previous 16 games.
However, some of their expensive roster members arrived in time to keep them in the running for a third European Cup.
“It sets us up for the next few weeks and we wanted to progress and get into the last eight.”
A 10-game winning streak across all competitions preceded Dortmund’s arrival in England.
With the exception of a Marco Reus free kick that Kepa Arrizabalaga skillfully palmed to safety, the visitors posed little offensive threat in the first half.
Edin Terzic, the manager of Dortmund, stated, “We have to say, over the course of two games, Chelsea deserves to go through.”
“Games on both legs were extremely close. In games like these, seconds and inches determine whether or not you advance to the next round.
At the other end, chances came and went frequently. The goal was disallowed for offside against Sterling earlier in the move after Havertz’s volley hit the inside of the post and finally hit the bottom of the bar.
Kalidou Koulibaly made the biggest mistake
Kalidou Koulibaly made the biggest mistake when he missed an open goal from Ben Chilwell’s free kick, and Felix’s follow-up shot was stopped on the line.
On the touchline, Potter was uncharacteristically animated as he constantly energized the crowd to keep pushing his team forward.
Potter added, “There is a lot of emotion at the end.” The final score was tight, but the boys played great.
Three minutes before the halftime break, the home fans finally had something to celebrate.
Sterling performs admirably
The England international kept his composure and dribbled past Reus before firing high into the net.
According to Sterling, “I had a little miskick with the first touch, but it landed perfectly and allowed us to build on that for our performance.”
In the last eight games, that was only Chelsea’s third goal.
Potter’s team scored more than once for the first time since December 27 thanks to Havertz’s penalty kick early in the second half. However, the German international needed two penalty kicks to make his mark.
Havertz’s first penalty rebounded off the post, but VAR saved Chelsea once more as Dortmund were dealt a second blow for their intrusion.
Havertz calmly slotted the ball the same way, this time into the corner of the net, so there was no second chance.
Jude Bellingham, a Dortmund midfielder, is expected to have his pick of Europe’s top clubs this summer, so it’s possible that Chelsea’s spending spree kept them out of the running for the Dortmund player.
However, on his return to England, Bellingham side-footed wide from close range, missing Dortmund’s best chance to force the game into extra time.