However, the guests were only moderately impressed by the early deficit, which was hardly to matchplan of Lilles Trainer Jocelyn Gourvennec should have heard. Led by the former Bayern professional Renato Sanches played Lille now cheerfully forward, but needed the help of Chelsea’s Central defender Antonio Rüdiger to endanger the opposing goal: His unsuccessful liberation shot became a ricochet that only just went over.
Lille remained active after that, while the hosts managed the lead rather casually. Thomas Tuchel did not completely agree with this, which meant that his chewing gum slipped out of his mouth in excitement. Although his team still had the better chances: Marcos Alonso, however, only found the arms of the goalkeeper jardim (14th). Hakim Ziyech stumbled on a strong pass from in the penalty area N’Golo Kante (30th). On the other side had Chelsea’s keepers Edouard Mendy no trouble with a flick of Benjamin Andre from 20 meters (36th). That was all before the break whistle.
Pulisic dispels Tuchel’s worries
After the change, both teams played happily forward again. And again had Chelsea the first good chance. Disturbed after a sharp cross from the right Lilles Defender Zeki Celik first decided to shoot Ziyech in front of the goal and then blocked the subsequent shot by Marcos Alonso (53′). Havertz drew attention to himself again five minutes later, but clearly missed the target from a tight angle.
However, the injuries to Mateo Kovacic (51st) and Ziyech (60th), both of whom were unable to continue, initially caused Tuchel greater concern than his team’s missed chances. Lukaku stayed on the bench anyway and Tuchel’s worries quickly dissipated when edge after a fine pass from Thiago Silva and an unaccompanied run through the opposing half, put the ball on Christian Pulisic. The former Dortmund player then pushed the ball into the bottom right goal from 13 meters to make it 2-0 (63′).
Lukaku stays on the bench
For Lille the evening was gone with it. The guests didn’t have a chance to improve the starting position for the second leg. The substitution of Timo Werner and Malang Sarr (80th) also reduced Lukaku’s chances of an assignment. The record buyer was able to follow from the bench how his colleagues routinely played the game including five minutes of stoppage time.
Source: red