{"id":30046,"date":"2023-03-08T07:05:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T07:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=30046"},"modified":"2023-03-08T07:05:43","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T07:05:43","slug":"champions-league-chelsea-2-0-borussia-dortmund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2023\/03\/08\/champions-league-chelsea-2-0-borussia-dortmund\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions League: Chelsea 2-0 Borussia Dortmund"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If this was the night when Graham Potter\u2019s great comeback began, the night when he truly arrived as Chelsea\u2019s manager and connected with the fans, he will always look back fondly on Raheem Sterling\u2019s unpredictable finishing confusing\u00a0Borussia Dortmund\u00a0and a fussy VAR handing Kai Havertz a second go at winning this tie from the penalty spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it was inevitable that this team would not take the easy route to goal. Finishing remains an issue for\u00a0Chelsea\u00a0and at times it seemed their wastefulness would cost them again. That they were stronger than Dortmund was never in doubt. Yet there was no guarantee Chelsea were going to make their superiority count and, as the misses piled up during the first half, it was hard not to fear it was going to be a familiar tale of woe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it was, the evening would end on an unsettling note: Potter beaming as he strode on to the pitch after the final whistle, the emotion taking over for once as he did his best J\u00fcrgen Klopp impression in front of the Matthew Harding Stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This could be a defining moment. For once Potter was a lucky manager \u2013 and deservedly so. A week ago he was two defeats away from the sack. Now Chelsea\u2019s owners will feel they were wise to stand by their man. Their season has meaning again. It does not take much to alter the narrative and Potter, who has continued to trust his tactical acumen, will feel anything is possible after Chelsea reached the\u00a0Champions League\u00a0quarter-finals thanks to strange goals from Sterling and Havertz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Stamford<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea have been here before. They were unfancied when they won this competition in 2012 and 2021, though this comeback from 1-0 down after the away leg<\/a> was not as fraught as previous ones. Potter outwitted Edin Terzi\u0107. A delayed kick-off, caused by Dortmund getting stuck in traffic, had no impact on Chelsea. They were straight into their tackles, Kalidou Koulibaly dispossessing Jude Bellingham, and made sure to feed off the crowd\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fans were with Potter and the early signs were positive: Chelsea insistent and incisive, Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez and Mateo Kovacic dominating midfield, the best thing about Dortmund the yellow smoke billowing from the away end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visitors did not resemble a side on a 10-match winning run. Dortmund were cold, Julian Brandt making way for Gio Reyna after five minutes, and their high line was vulnerable. Jo\u00e3o F\u00e9lix, Havertz and Ben Chilwell had chances to break the deadlock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsea grew edgy at 0-0. Dortmund, who escaped when Havertz had a goal disallowed for offside, slowed the tempo and began to threaten. Marco Reus\u2019s free-kick drew a fine save from Kepa Arrizabalaga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But S\u00e9bastien Haller was isolated against Chelsea\u2019s new-look back three of Wesley Fofana, Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella. Potter\u2019s big calls were spot-on. Reece James\u2019s return at right wing-back made a difference and, with Thiago Silva injured and Beno\u00eet Badiashile ineligible, the gamble on Cucurella at left centre-back was inspired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jude
Jude Bellingham (centre) goes up against Mateo Kovacic in midfield. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cucurella, who had not been involved since the first leg, was outstanding. The \u00a362m Spaniard gave nothing away and nor did Chelsea. Niklas S\u00fcle\u2019s booking for timewasting spoke volumes. Dortmund were creaking. Kovacic sensed it, winning a loose ball and charging down the left just before the interval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chilwell arrived when Kovacic ran out of room. The left wing-back crossed and there was Sterling, ready with a miskick, baffling Dortmund. It was vintage Sterling: panicky and brilliant all at once. He tried again, scampering on to his left foot, and this time he crashed a shot into the roof of the net. Billy Reid, Potter\u2019s No 2, turned and roared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graham<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The momentum was with Chelsea. They made a fast start to the second half, forcing errors from Dortmund. Sterling found Chilwell, whose cross clipped Marius Wolf\u2019s left hand. The outcome was inevitable when the referee, Danny Makkelie, checked the monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally Chelsea made it complicated. They had not scored more than once in a game since 27 December and had put Havertz \u2013 two goals since Christmas \u2013 on penalties following Jorginho\u2019s move to Arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Havertz took a stop-start run-up before sending Meyer the wrong way and the ball against the post. Was it all about to go wrong for Potter? Not quite. To Dortmund\u2019s fury, the VAR was telling Makkelie about encroachment. Havertz stood over the spot again and this time he kept his cool, going through the same routine but making sure to keep the ball inside the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind on aggregate, Dortmund stirred. Bellingham, who had an inconsistent game, sidefooted wide. Wolf tested Arrizabalaga and Potter responded by shoring up his midfield, Conor Gallagher, Denis Zakaria and Ruben Loftus-Cheek coming on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inevitably Chelsea retreated, six added minutes testing their nerve. But when Dortmund\u2019s final attack ended with Wolf shooting straight at Arrizabalaga, Chelsea could dream of another European run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If this was the night when Graham Potter\u2019s great comeback began, the night when he truly arrived as Chelsea\u2019s manager and connected with the fans, he will always look back fondly on Raheem Sterling\u2019s unpredictable finishing confusing\u00a0Borussia Dortmund\u00a0and a fussy VAR handing Kai Havertz a second go at winning this tie from the penalty spot. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":30047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3295],"tags":[285,5304,10805,3752,1911,169,5110,7711,9109,9171,7923,5494,9505,9026,8057,746,7319,7859,11111,302,7031,7263,9676,6286,5286,12791,8126,5886,10481,8874,1260,1562,8522,11259,11179,3401,5594,3954,9656,594],"class_list":["post-30046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-sport","tag-arsenal","tag-attack","tag-bellingham","tag-borussia-dortmund","tag-champions-league","tag-chelsea","tag-christmas","tag-cold","tag-crashed","tag-crowd","tag-dortmund","tag-energy","tag-european","tag-fans","tag-fear","tag-feel","tag-fern","tag-graham-potter","tag-injured","tag-jorginho","tag-jurgen-klopp","tag-kai","tag-kai-havertz","tag-klopp","tag-koulibaly","tag-manager","tag-match","tag-mateo-kovacic","tag-midfield","tag-penalties","tag-raheem-sterling","tag-ruben-loftus-cheek","tag-sack","tag-shot","tag-smoke","tag-taking-over","tag-traffic","tag-will","tag-wolf","tag-who"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}