When Burak Yilmaz scored from the spot for Lille in the 38th minute of their UEFA Champions League Round-of-16 second leg against Chelsea, a tie which had been firmly tilted in one direction suddenly looked to be in the balance. Jorginho, UEFA Men’s Player of the Year after helping the Blues win the competition last season, was the guilty party – his hand, in an unnatural position, as the ball struck him inside the box.
By their standards, Thomas Tuchel’s men were below par throughout the first half. However, right on the stroke of half-time, a clever run by Christian Pulisic was matched by an equally brilliant, defence-splitting pass from Jorginho and the attacker guided the ball into the corner with a first-time hit.
Lille started the second-half just as they had done the first – on top. Yilmaz glanced a header narrowly wide minutes after the restart; just past the hour mark, the forward peeled off to the right before delivering a pin-point cross into the box, which Xeka slammed against the post.
Chelsea capitalized on Lille’s inability to take their chances when, in the 71st minute, a cross from the left from half-time substitute Mason Mount was smashed in at the back post by captain Cesar Azpilicueta. The Blues, 4-1 up on aggregate, cruised into the quarterfinals.
Elsewhere, a late flurry of goals from Villarreal helped them stun Juventus and book their place amongst the European heavyweights already through to the next round.
Gerard Moreno scored first from the spot after Daniele Rugani had fouled Francis Coquelin as he ran through on goal – in the 78th minute. Four minutes later, Serge Aurier’s flick-on from a corner was turned in at the back post by centre-back Pau Torres, with Villarreal’s progression all but confirmed.
However, there was still time for the Yellow Submarine to add another, which they did through Arnaut Danjuma, who took over the spot-kick responsibilities from Moreno and beat Wojciech Szczesny with confidence in stoppage time.
