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A first-half goal from Raheem Sterling and a penalty by Kai Havertz overturned a first-leg deficit to help Chelsea book their place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory against Dortmund.
The 28-year-old English winger Raheem Sterling broke the deadlock in the first half moments before the first half. Sterling tried to get past Marco Reus with a bit of trickery. However, the ball ended up ricocheting off Reus, fell in Sterling's path and he smashed it right into the roof of the net. Within three minutes of the second half, Chelsea players started raising their hands in the air claiming a penalty. Ben Chilwell's cross struck Marius Wolf's wavering hand, the on-field referee was suggested to look at this incident. Danny Makkelie the on-field referee sprinted towards the on-field monitor. The fate of Dortmund depended on this sole decision. While many deemed it a controversial decision, Chelsea was awarded the penalty. Kai Havertz stepped up on the big occasion but ended up rattling the post in his 'first attempt'. VAR once again intervened and sent an order to retake the penalty due to encroachment by Dortmund players. Even though in the replay it appeared as if Chelsea players had already encroached during the penalty before Dortmund players. However, the decision went in favour of Chelsea and Havertz stepped up to take the penalty again. The German attacker grabbed the opportunity by putting Chelsea in a 2-1 lead on the aggregate. At this moment the shade of yellow and the rumbling of Dortmund fans that camouflaged Chelsea's Tifo faded away within seconds, and the joyous roar of Chelsea fans overtook the entire Stamford Bridge. Even Graham Potter praised the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. "It's an important game, it's a special atmosphere. It's a passionate evening. Both sets of supporters contributed to that. Stamford Bridge was rocking and our performance helped that," Potter said in the post-match conference. For Potter, none of the goal scorers produced a man-of-the-match performance. For him, the Spanish left-back Marc Cucurella produced a man-of-the-match performance "I think he got Man of the Match, didn't he? I'm delighted for him. When you're having a bad time like we have, you accept the criticism. Marc has dealt with it well. We've tried to shield him a bit and pick the moment. With Benoit not available, he gave us the left foot and balance in a back-three and thankfully he delivered a top performance, Potter continued. After this victory, Graham Potter has undoubtedly got more breathing space. He expressed the essence of this meaning. "To win a game and go into the last eight of the Champions League, it's up there with one of the games or evenings of my career. I watched the first penalty and it didn't work so well. I can't do anything. It's down to Kai and his talent and testament and that's at the top level," Potter concluded. With two victories in a row, Chelsea will now visit the King Power Stadium to face Leicester on 11 March. (ANI)
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