Chelsea 2-1 Lille: Blues avoid banana skin to qualify for the Champions League last 16
Frank Lampard was clear in his view on Chelsea’s crunch match with Lille tonight.
The Blues needed a result from their final Champions League group game to reach the last 16 and their manager was ready to embrace the occasion.
“I like the pressure of this game being a knockout,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “If we’re going to do anything good here, then we are going to need lots of these nights.”
For 78 minutes of the tie any semblance of pressure was hard to identify inside Stamford Bridge as Chelsea set about their task admirably and held a comfortable 2-0 lead.
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Chelsea knew a win over the French side would guarantee their progression to the last 16 regardless of the outcome of Ajax’s meeting with Valencia in Amsterdam and for such an occasion Lampard’s characteristic blend of youth and experience was understandably tilted towards the latter.
Tammy Abraham was the sole representative of the homegrown youngsters, with Fikayo Tomori injured and Mason Mount and Reece James left on the substitutes bench.
The rotation towards more established players appeared to be the right call as the Blues coasted through a straightforward first half.
One-way traffic
Lille initially failed to throw a single punch in west London, with the French side looking very inch the bottom dwellers of an otherwise fiercely competitive Group H.
With Christian Pulisic dancing through tackles and Chelsea pushed right up the pitch, the hosts searched for an opener. Emerson tested goalkeeper Mike Maignan and N’Golo Kante volleyed wide from the edge of the box before the breakthrough came.
Willian got to the byline and squared for Abraham to tap in from close range and ease any lingering nerves. And when Cesar Azpilicueta lost his marker, Zeki Celik, to head in Emerson’s curling corner 16 minutes later you would have been forgiven for thinking the tie, and progression, was done and dusted.
After the break Abraham and Pulisic were taken off to conserve energy ahead of Saturday’s Premier League game against Bournemouth but the one-way traffic only continued.
Kurt Zouma and the fit-again Antonio Rudiger were busy seeing who could complete the highest percentage of passes. Jorginho, Kante and Matteo Kovacic were settled in midfield.
There was little sign of danger until, suddenly, Yusuf Yazici beat Azpilcueta and pulled the ball back for the previously anonymous Loic Remy to return and haunt his former club with a thumping finish off the underside of the crossbar.
Panic button
Lille’s first shot on target ensured a sixth game without a cleansheet and frustration for Lampard, but worse still, having eased through the game all evening, the panic button was pressed.
Yazici flashed a shot wide before, more alarmingly, Chelsea were caught shorthanded at the back and Remy ran through on goal. Thankfully for the home team he chose the wrong option and shot tamely at Kepa Arrizabalaga.
With five minutes of injury-time added on Chelsea just about managed to curb their instincts and take the ball to the corner flag, rather than go gung-ho for a killer third goal, and the win was secured.
And although there was annoyance that they nearly let a far inferior side send them to the Europa League, that should be outweighed by the pride at qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages.
Qualifying, albeit in second place, from what turned out to be the tournament’s most competitive group is no mean feat, especially considering the transfer ban they have operated underneath.
Valencia’s 1-0 away win at Ajax sent last year’s semi-finalists into Europe’s secondary cup competition and helped to highlight just how far Chelsea have come in a short space of time under Lampard.
With the right blend between hungry, exciting young players, the more experienced ones and a January transfer window approaching in which they can strengthen, Monday’s draw in Switzerland should be approached with optimism rather than caution.