Soccer
Lille 1-2 Chelsea (1-4 agg.): Blues into Champions League quarterfinals
Lille put up a good fight, but Chelsea's quality shone through as the Premier League club won 2-1 in their Champions League last-16 second-leg meeting on Wednesday.
Wednesday's victory combined with the first-leg result means Chelsea claims a 4-1 aggregate victory over the French champions.
It wasn't without a challenge, though — Lille struck first on Wednesday and looked equal to the task for much of the second half, but the Blues ultimately proved too good a side to fall at this hurdle and eventually took control of the match.
After going down a goal thanks to Burak Yilmaz's 38th-minute penalty kick, Chelsea found the motivation needed to kick things into a higher gear. Just moments before the halftime whistle, Christian Pulisic scored off a line-splitting Jorginho through-ball into the Lille 18-yard box, equalizing the game and restoring the Blues' two-goal aggregate advantage.
Lille then tried to answer back early in the second half with sustained pressure that saw three different players come close via headers inside the Chelsea penalty area — including a Xeka effort that struck the post just after the hour mark — but les Dogues didn't have the quality in the final third to punish their visitors. Then, in the 71st minute, Chelsea made the hosts pay for their misses as César Azpilicueta scored to put the result out of reach.
Chelsea moves on to the quarterfinals as the English club looks to repeat as Champions League titleholder.
