It looks like Chelsea banished the shaky form that has trailed them for a while which saw them lose ground on the title. They have been snatching the results in Europe and fresh from their conquest in the Club World Cup games which they won the trophy, the confidence seem to be coming back gradually as they gained ground for the first leg encounter against Losc Lille with a 2-0 victory.
This win means since Thomas Tuchel took over, they have enjoyed 39 clean sheets (speaking of Tuchel's effect) and not only that, they are the first side to win 5 consecutive home games in the UEFA Champions League without conceding any goal. No other side has done this ever since Real Madrid did it in 2016 with the record of 6 home wins but Chelsea happened to be the first English side to do that in European competition.
Losc Lille would have to rue their luck as they have always been knocked out by English oppositions. Manchester United knocked them out twice and with this 2-0 win, Chelsea has now knocked them out thrice. For the last 5 games against English oppositions, Losc Lille hasn't faired well and I am not sure there would be any changes to how the second leg would play out. Chelsea has been at this stage 16 times while this is the first time Lille would be at this stage of the competition in 15 years.
Chelsea wants to successfully defend their crown and getting Lille out of the way is the first step in the right direction. Even without Romelu Lukaku as he dropped to the bench, Chelsea got the job done as Kai Havertz with Christian Pulisic getting Chelsea halfway through to the Quarter Finals.
We saw against Crystal Palace how Lukaku lacked the service inside the box but I think Chelsea worked more on that as the first real chance they got was with Azpilicueta's delivery into the box to pick out Kai Havertz but unfortunately he blasted his effort over the bar. It was the speed and the urgency in which Chelsea responded that caught Lille off guard. Havertz missed a couple of chances before he finally got on the score sheet with a brilliant header from Ziyech's corner-kick delivery.
Speaking of Ziyech, he has really grown in influence in that team. He has consistently delivered for many games in a row now and he is proving decisive for Chelsea. With the games coming thick and fast, they would appreciate having him on this form for long.
Alonso seems to have dropped off a bit and it's normal. He is more deadly with set-pieces now than he has been with his burst of pace down the line. He had two decent chances as well to put Chelsea further behind but he was denied both times. He is good with his link-up play and charges down the lines but he is always a threat to any team with his dead-ball situations.
Kai Havertz had a wonderful game I must say. He played his heart out, filling in the role for Romelu Lukaku. He stole the ball, ran in behind defenders, took them on and became a menace for the defenders.
Chelsea seemed to manage their squad well and rotated for this game with their eyes set on the EFL final against Liverpool. The squad Tuchel used got the job done and he would be relieved as the attention would be shifted to the final. Kante also played an important role as his burst of pace set up Pulisic inside the box as he guided the ball into the back of the net to round up the scoring.
Lille had no response to Chelsea's goals even though they played better and grew into the game but if they want to have a chance at all, they have to put up a better fight in the second leg but I feel it might be a little too late for them because when you don't take your chances, you get punished. Football is full of surprises but with Lille not getting at least an away goal, it would be hard for them to rely on 3-0 to qualify. With the quality that Chelsea possesses, you can be sure they would score in the second leg to kill off any realistic hope of a comeback.
The job was done by Chelsea and the attention would now be on Liverpool to determine who wins the final. Chelsea already got their hand on a trophy with the Club World Cup trophy, let's see if they are in a generous mood to see Liverpool lifting the trophy but a good team would want to win it all and Chelsea won't be different in respect to that.
Thank you for your time.
My pen doesn't bleed, it speaks, with speed and ease.
Still me,
My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.
Olawalium; (Love's chemical content, in human form). Take a dose today: doctor's order.
