Lille vs Chelsea LIVE: Champions League result and final score after Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta goals
Burak Yilmaz put the French side ahead, but Pulisic and Azpilicueta responded to put the holders into the quarter-finals
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Your support makes all the difference.Holders Chelsea made light of their off-pitch problems to reach the Champions League quarter-finals by beating Lille 2-1 away on Wednesday to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory.
The Premier League side, playing amid sanctions imposed on their Russian owner Roman Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, eased through thanks to goals by Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta.
French champions Lille dominated for long spells and opened the scoring thanks to a Burak Yilmaz penalty in the opening half, but lacked precision up front and paid dearly for lapses in concentration.
Chelsea, operating on a special licence from the British government that has limited their spending and impacted their operations, showed great composure to ease into the last eight.
Lille had made the better start to the match.
Jocelyn Gouvennec’s side put Chelsea on the back foot as Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante struggled to take control of the midfield.
Lille were rewarded in the 38th minute when they were awarded a penalty following a VAR review after a Jorginho handball in the area.
The 36-year-old Yilmaz, the third oldest scorer in the Champions League knockout stages after Paolo Maldini and Ryan Giggs, buried the spot-kick into the top corner to give the hosts a deserved lead and high hopes of an upset after losing the first leg 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Lille, who had not conceded a goal in their three Ligue 1 games since the first leg, let their guard down, however, and Chelsea punished them with their first shot on target as Pulisic collected a fine through ball from Jorginho to score with a low shot three minutes into first-half stoppage time.
Although they were hit by injuries which forced Sven Botman and Zeki Celik to leave the pitch, Lille applied more pressure after the break and Yilmaz wasted two clear chances.
Chelsea were far more ruthless and after 71 minutes Mason Mount’s cross bounced off Azpilicueta’s knee into the top corner to end Lille’s hopes of reaching the last eight.
Lille 1-2 Chelsea, 90 + 2 minutes
Top save! It’s the first of the game, I think, for Leo Jardim, but the Lille goalkeeper spreads himself well to block Marcos Alonso’s effort as Chelsea again get in behind the French side’s defence.
Lille 1-2 Chelsea, 90 + 1 minutes
Romelu Lukaku claps his hands in frustration as Marcos Alonso fails to find him at the far post after the pair breach the Lille defence. Alonso rather skews his cross into the floor, allowing Amadou Onana to recover.
Lille 1-2 Chelsea, 90 + 1 minutes
Romelu Lukaku claps his hands in frustration as Marcos Alonso fails to find him at the far post after the pair breach the Lille defence. Alonso rather skews his cross into the floor, allowing Amadou Onana to recover.
Lille 1-2 Chelsea, 90 minutes
A retreating Burak Yilmaz fouls Ruben Loftus-Cheek, extending a hand to help up the Chelsea midfielder as we enter four minutes of stoppage time.
Lille 1-2 Chelsea, 87 minutes
It is taken short and Hatem Ben Arfa dribbles into a crossing position, swinging in a ball with his left foot from the right. Xeka gets his bonce to it, but it’s rather misdirected.
Lille 1-2 Chelsea, 86 minutes
Djalo now combines with Timothy Weah, popping up on the right, and the American wins a corner.
Lille 1-2 Chelsea, 84 minutes
Briliiant from Tiago Djalo, more usually a central defender but using his long limbs to wiggle his way past Marcos Alonso as he presses on from right-back. His cross is a disappointment, with Antonio Rudiger expertly positioned, but that was some nifty footwork from Djalo.
Lille 1-2 Chelsea, 83 minutes
Chelsea make change number five. Hakim Ziyech replaces Kai Havertz, who is directed to the nearest exit by referee/flight attendant Davide Massa having started a slow saunter towards the Chelsea bench.
Lille 1-2 Chelsea, 80 minutes
Excellent defending from Cesar Azpilicueta, fighting to remain between Hatem Ben Arfa and the ball, retrieving his crook to shepherd it safely out of play for a goal kick. The wing-back has worked tirelessly up and down the right side, and is beginning to look slightly leggy, but he used all of his nous there.
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