Chelsea 2-0 Lille: Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic both score in last-16 first leg to seal a comfortable lead

Chelsea took charge of their Champions League last-16 tie with Lille courtesy of a 2-0 victory in the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Kai Havertz was deployed in a false number nine position after boss Thomas Tuchel opted to bench the struggling Romelu Lukaku and the Germany international duly delivered when he headed home the opener on eight minutes.

Ad/> Lille responded with the impressive Renato Sanches purring in the midfield, but they struggled to test Edouard Mendy during their spells of dominance. Premier LeagueTuchel explains how Havertz has ‘stepped up’ – and what he can do better18/02/2022 AT 18:03 Chelsea continued to look the more likely when they upped the tempo on the counter attack and it was no surprise when Christian Pulisic tucked home their second goal on 63 minutes to put them in a strong position ahead of the second leg in France on March 16.

The reigning European champions will now head into the League Cup final with Liverpool on Sunday on the back of six straight wins in all competitions, although they did suffer the blow of seeing both Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech limp off injured. Champions League fixtures Champions League top scorers Talking Point What next in the Lukaku saga? When Chelsea splashed £97.5m on Lukaku they were looking for the striking focal point to push them to an even higher level.

Unfortunately it hasn’t quite turned out that way just yet and he must have been a frustrated observer as an unused substitute here. The Belgium international hasn’t been the undoubted hit many observers were suggesting but criticism of his output notably intensified after his seven touches in Saturday’s league win over Crystal Palace set a record for the lowest of any player since data was initially