Chelsea defeats Lille in Champions League Match 2 to 0
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On Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022 Chelsea was able to depend upon Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz for both of Chelsea’s goal scores with the misfiring Romelu Lukaku being rested as well.
The London powerhouse football club, Chelsea, retuned their Champions League title defense by cruising through a 2 to 0 win over Lille on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022 in order to take control of the round of 16 match – up as they head into the 2nd leg of this contest next month in March of 2022.
Enjoying their usual role as an attacking team, Havertz spent just close to approximately 8 – minutes in order for him to put Chelsea ahead of Lille when he met Hakim Ziyech’s corner – kick.
“We have a lot of good strikers, so it is also good to have a change and not make it easy for the opposition,” says Kai Havertz said. “Today it worked good and I enjoy every forward position.”
The second goal score came during the 63rd – minute, and it just so happened to be created by the enthusiastic drive of N’Golo Kante, who went half the length of the field all – unchallenged prior to passing off to Pulisic who finished with a nasty shot that snapped into the bottom corner of the net.
“When N’Golo is driving like that, it’s just a question of keeping up with him,” Christian Pulisic proclaimed, “and I managed to do that and finish it off.”
Kante’s electric participation predominantly delighted the head coach of Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel.
“He’s struggled with belief and intensity in recent matches so it was good he stepped up today,” Thomas Tuchel revealed. “You can see how big an impact he has when he’s in good shape.”
The comfort of Chelsea’s latest win has been easily demonstrated with their status during this season. While Chelsea is currently in 3rd – place in the English Premier League (EPL), Lille is mid – table (11th – place) at the moment in their French Ligue 1 League title defense.
“We lacked a little quality in the final ball and that cost us,” the Lille forward, Jonathan David, expressed.
Tuchel revealed that fatigue was the main reason that they left out Lukaku, who was Chelsea’s the club – record $135 million offseason signing, that touched the football just 7 – times during last Saturday’s 1 to 0 victory over Crystal Palace. Lukaku ultimately did not end up coming off of the bench last Tuesday versus Lille.
“After the match where everyone was focused on his few touches … it was not the moment to put him into the next fire,” Tuchel goes on to say. “It was the moment to take a step back, that was the decision and that’s it.
“We have now had a strong win and a strong performance. We have now had a good win and all the questions are still about Romelu, so the focus is huge.”
Plus, it is simpler to rely upon Lukaku when there is another forward who costs just over $90 million to be able to depend on during big moments in a close match. Havertz, who happened to score Chelsea’s game – winning goal during the Champions League finals last season, also scored the crucial goal that eventually sealed the Club World Cup title earlier this month as well.
“He has really stepped up,” Tuchel stated. “His work rate is immense, and the volume, the areas of the pitch that he covers for us is very, very good. He was again decisive, he created chances, got involved and was never shy of defending.
“We played with a very aggressive high line with Hakim, with all three offensive players together. It was the formation to have intensity, and a high work rate consistently throughout the whole match and they all did very well.”
In Tuesday night’s other 1st – leg match, Dusan Vlahovic scored a huge goal only 31 – seconds into his Champions League debut as Juventus drew to a 1 to 1 tie at Villarreal, where the lead was eventually equalized via Dani Parejo’s goal during the 2nd – half of this close contest.
Sources:
Harris, Rob. “Pulisic, Havertz supply Chelsea CL goals with Lukaku dropped”. The Associated Press. February 22, 2022.
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