Chelsea Knock out Dortmund to Reach Q’finals

Graham Potter enjoyed his finest night as Chelsea manager as they overcame a first-leg deficit against Borussia Dortmund 2-1 aggregate to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.

Potter was under huge pressure after a dismal run of results following Chelsea’s huge outlay in the transfer market, but he will hope the manner of this performance and the advance into the latter stages of Europe’s elite competition will deliver a measure of calm and stability to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea fully deserved their win, although they squandered several big opportunities before Raheem Sterling made the breakthrough after 43 minutes, firing past Dortmund keeper Alexander Meyer after initially fluffing his shot.

The goal which settled the tie and overturned Dortmund’s 1-0 advantage from the first leg came in contentious fashion from the penalty spot eight minutes after the break.

Dortmund were furious when a VAR review penalised Marius Wolf for handball from Ben Chilwell’s cross and their sense of injustice heightened after Kai Havertz struck the post with his spot-kick only for a re-take to be ordered.

This time Havertz made no mistake and Chelsea were on their way into the last eight.

Potter has struggled to convince Chelsea’s fans he has the personality required to take on this occasionally dysfunctional football beast since switching from Brighton to take over from Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge. His cause has not been helped by poor Premier League form and a battle to establish any sort of shape and stability from the influx of players assembled at vast expense by new owner Todd Boehly.