Chelsea FC boosted their chances of making it to the next round of the UEFA Champions League after bating Lille 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Chelsea who are just ten days old from winning the FIFA Club World Cup took the lead in the eighth minute through Kai Haverts who had come in for Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgian had been dropped to the bench in what caused a huge debate on social media prior to the game but Haverts proved why he deserved a place in the team by nodding in a header from a corner earlier in the game.
Lille were not going to give up and despite the early setback, they had some sort of brilliance with their pressing and winning the balls in the midfield but looked to lack the cutting edge in attack.
5 – Chelsea are the first English team in the history of the European Cup/Champions League to win five consecutive home matches without conceding a goal. Fortress. pic.twitter.com/TymxguK7Jo
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 22, 2022
Former Swansea man Renato Sanches was the man pulling the strings in the midfield but is in connection with Jonathan David always found stumbling blocks on their way to attack as the hosts held on to their slender lead heading into the halftime break.
Chelsea came with the aim of controlling the game in the second half and did justice to their chances of making it to the next round when Christian Pulisic doubled their lead three minutes after the hour mark. A wide-open Marcos Alonso saw Mehmet Zeki Çelik block his effort before Pulisic tucked the ball in.
Despite the win, coach Tuchel will be worried about the fitness of midfielder Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech who were all withdrawn with injuries.
Chelsea have a Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on Sunday and want all their players fit if they are to continue winning trophies this year.
