Chelsea into quarters with 2-1 win

LONDON: A first-half goal from Raheem Sterling and a controversial penalty by Kai Havertz overturned a first-leg deficit on Tuesday and propelled Chelsea into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 2-1 aggregate win over Borussia Dortmund.

Just as it had done in Germany three weeks ago when Dortmund won 1-0 in the first leg, Chelsea squandered chance after chance in the opening half, with Havertz hitting the post. But, in the 43rd minute, left wing-back Ben Chilwell crossed the ball into the box and found England teammate Raheem Sterling. Sterling airkicked, then sidestepped Marco Reus and sent his second shot high into the net to put the teams level on aggregate.

Early in the second half, a Chilwell cross smacked into the outstretched hand of defender Marius Wolf and Dutch referee Danny Makkelie awarded a penalty after being called to the VAR screen. Havertz hit the keeper’s left hand post and play resumed for a few seconds until the VAR alerted Makkelie that Dortmund players had encroached into the area.

Havertz retook the kick and sent the ball the same way but this time it squeezed inside the post for a 53rd-minute tie-winning goal.

RESULTS:Round-of-16: Second leg: Chelsea 2 (R Sterling 43, K Havertz 53(P)) bt Borussia Dortmund 0 (Chelsea won 2-1 on aggregate); Benfica 5 (R Silva 38, G Ramos 45 & 57, J Mario 71(P), D Neres 77) bt Club Brugge 1 (B Meijer 87) (Benfica won 7-1 on aggregate)