Chelsea deservedly secured a spot in the Champions League quarter-finals after they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday (2-1 on aggregate). The German outfit won the first leg but found themselves bested by a dominant yet wasteful at times Chelsea as the pressure on Graham Potter's job lessened with the Blues securing back-to-back wins for the first time since October.
As chances went begging for Chelsea, with Havertz striking the post early on and Kalidou Koulibaly missing an open goal from just a few yards out, it looked as though it would just be one of those nights. That was until Raheem Sterling's mishit shot gave him a second bite at the cherry, one which he smashed into the roof of the net just before half time.
Then came the controversy. A Ben Chilwell cross was deemed to have been handled in the penalty area by Marius Wolf after VAR intervention, but Kai Havertz saw the resulting spot kick strike the post. Luckily for the German international, a handful of Dortmund players entered the 18-yard box as Havertz was still striding up to strike the ball.
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Subsequently it was retaken and this time Havertz made no mistake. Chelsea were then able to hold off Dortmund and place themselves in the draw for the last eight. Unlike wins over Leeds and Crystal Palace, this was a fully deserved victory with the national media sending a clear message to Potter that this could truly be the start of his reign in west London
The Guardian
If this was the night when Graham Potter’s great comeback began, the night when he truly arrived as Chelsea’s manager and connected with the fans, he will always look back fondly on Raheem Sterling’s unpredictable finishing confusing Borussia Dortmund and a fussy VAR handing Kai Havertz a second go at winning this tie from the penalty spot.
Perhaps it was inevitable that this team would not take the easy route to goal. Finishing remains an issue for Chelsea and 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.
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 Jürgen Klopp impression in front of the Matthew Harding Stand.
This could be a defining moment. For once Potter was a lucky manager – and deservedly so. A week ago he was two defeats away from the sack. Now Chelsea’s 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 Champions League quarter-finals thanks to strange goals from Sterling and Havertz.
Read more here.
Daily Mail
The slow torture of a fine coach and a good man was finally called to a halt at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.
Chelsea defended superbly and bulldozed their way past a disappointing Borussia Dortmund team and into the quarter-finals of the Champions League and as the supporters danced and yelled and bounced, the club's besieged manager Graham Potter threw off the ropes that have bound him and leapt down from the rack.
Potter, famously, had never even been to a Champions League game before this season and now he has become the first English manager to win a knockout game for the club in the competition.
He and his coaches went through agonies in the final few moments of time added on as Dortmund pressed for the goal that would take the tie into extra time, barely able to watch, holding their heads in their hands, frantically shouting instructions. When the final whistle eventually came, the roar from the stadium warmed the chill night air.
Read more here.
The Telegraph
Graham Potter declined to watch the retake of Kai Havertz’s definitive second half penalty and the Chelsea manager, who has now found a place of refuge in what looked like it might be the collapse of a season, will wish that every misstep could so easily be rectified.
The Potter era, if it is to last as long as to justify such a place in history, has survived its most exacting four days. First Leeds United dispatched at a sceptical Stamford Bridge on Saturday and now one of the great clubs of European football beaten with a hotly-disputed retaken penalty to propel Chelsea into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
At that moment, with the tie in the balance, Chelsea’s season at the crossroads and perhaps Potter’s managerial career too, he averted his gaze. The Chelsea manager was looking at his feet when Havertz scored what would be the tie’s winning goal at the second attempt. Just before half-time, when Raheem Sterling had scored the first, there was even a moment when it looked like Potter might even have enjoyed being Chelsea manager – even if it was fleeting.
Read more here (subscription needed).
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