Chelsea kept their season alive by beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to progress to the quarterfinals of the Champions League 2-1 on aggregate on Tuesday.
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| Image: Raheem Sterling levelled the tie at 1-1 on aggregate with his first-half goal |
Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz, with a twice-taken penalty, got the goals as the Blues relieved the pressure on manager Graham Potter.
The Englishman's job was on the line after a season that has so far failed to deliver any return on a world-record injection of over £500 million ($600 million) in one season on new signings.
Chelsea had won just three of their previous 16 matches to fall to 10th in the Premier League and bow out early of both domestic cups.
But some of their expensive collection of stars showed up in time to remain in the hunt for a third European Cup.
Kick-off was delayed by 10 minutes after Dortmund got stuck in the heavy London traffic on arrival to the stadium.
Once the action got underway, Chelsea sped out of the blocks.
Alexander Meyer had to fly off his line to block from Joao Felix from a narrow angle before Havertz fired a big chance into the side netting.
Dortmund arrived in England on the back of a 10-game winning run in all competitions.
But the visitors posed barely any attacking threat in the first half bar a Marco Reus free-kick that Kepa Arrizabalaga did brilliantly to palm to safety.
Chances continued to come and go at the other end. Havertz smashed a volley off the inside of the post and then finally found the net via the underside of the bar only for the goal to be ruled out for an offside against Sterling earlier in the move.
The worst miss was to come as Kalidou Koulibaly miscued with an open goal from Ben Chilwell's free-kick and Felix's follow-up effort was blocked on the line.
Potter was uncharacteristically animated on the touchline as he constantly whipped the crowd up to keep pushing his side forward.
And the home fans finally had something to celebrate three minutes before halftime.
Player ratings
Chelsea: Kepa (7), Cucurella (8), Koulibaly (7), Fofana (7), James (7), Chilwell (7), Kovacic (7), Fernandez (7), Sterling (8), Havertz (8), Felix (7).
Subs: Gallagher (7), Pulisic (n/a), Loftus-Cheek (n/a), Zakaria (n/a).
Borussia Dortmund: Meyer (7), Wolf (5), Sule (6), Schlotterbeck (6), Guerreiro (6), Can (7), Ozcan (6), Brandt (n/a), Bellingham (7), Reus (6), Haller (6).
Subs: Reyna (7), Bynoe-Gittens (6), Malen (6).
Player of the match: Marc Cucurella
Sterling comes good
Sterling's first attempt was another one to forget as he swiped and missed Chilwell's low cross, but the England international composed himself to dribble past Reus and fire high into the net.
That was just Chelsea's third goal in the last eight games.
Havertz's penalty early in the second half meant Potter's men scored more than once for the first time since December 27, but the German international needed two spot-kicks to make his mark.
Marius Wolf was penalised for handling Chilwell's cross after a VAR review.
Havertz's first penalty came back off the post, but VAR came to Chelsea's rescue once more as Dortmund were further punished for encroaching.
There was no second reprieve as Havertz coolly slotted the ball the same way, this time finding the corner of the net.
Chelsea's spending spree may have ruled them out of the running for Jude Bellingham with the Dortmund midfielder expected to have his choice of Europe's top clubs this summer.
On his return to England, Bellingham was far from his best and missed a big chance to level the tie when he side-footed wide just before the hour mark.
Chelsea were guilty of trying to protect their advantage in the final quarter and relied on Kepa to bail them out as Wolf stung the palms of the Spaniard.
But they should have still added a third on the counter-attack as Sterling again failed to hold his run before squaring for Conor Gallagher to roll into an empty net.
Encroachment rules
Encroachment by an attacking player results in penalty retaken (if penalty was scored) or indirect free-kick (if penalty was not scored).
Encroachment by a defending player results in goal (if penalty was scored) or penalty retaken (if penalty was not scored).
Encroachment by defending and attacking players results in penalty retaken regardless of outcome of spot-kick.
Benfica 5-1Club Brugge (Agg. 7-1).
Rafa Silva, Joo Mario and David Neres scored with Goncalo Ramos netting twice as Benfica thrashed Scott Parker's Club Brugge 5-1 to reach the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-1 victory as Goncalo Ramos scored twice.
Bjorn Meijer nets a late consolation for Brugge on their Champions League knockout stage debut. Former Bournemouth boss Scott Parker has won only two of his 12 games in charge of Brugge.
The hosts took the lead in the 38th minute through Rafa Silva who dribbled past two defenders and fired a left-foot strike into the net before Ramos scored either side of the break.
Joao Mario extended their lead with a penalty in the 71st minute and substitute David Neres grabbed the fifth six minutes later.
Bjorn Meijer netted a late consolation for Brugge, who have now won only two games in 12 under Parker.
Benfica, holding a two-goal lead from the first leg, were in control from the start and finally opened the scoring when Ramos crossed from the left and Silva finished at the far post.
Ramos added to the lead in first-half stoppage time by beating several defenders before smashing the ball home from inside the box.
The in-form striker then fired in shortly after the break to become the youngest Portuguese player to score twice in a knockout stage match.
Mario scored the fourth by converting a 71st-minute penalty after Abakar Sylla scythed down Gilberto and Neres completed the scoring for the hosts from inside the box with VAR awarding the goal following an offside flag.
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