LONDON, (Reuters) – Chelsea beat Atletico Madrid 2-0 yesterday to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2014 as Hakim Ziyech and Emerson Palmieri hit the target to give the team an aggregate 3-0 victory refreshed trainer Thomas Tuchel. .
Ziyech pressed the ball under Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the 34th minute of the last-16 second leg as he connected with a cross from Timo Werner who had raced down the left after being fed by his fellow German Kai Havertz.
The three players involved in the goal had come under pressure after failing to meet expectations since their arrival as big-money signatures at Stamford Bridge last summer.
Substitute Emerson secured the victory with a 94th minute strike at the break for Chelsea’s second goal.
Atletico were left to decide referee Daniele Orsato’s decision not to issue a penalty when, with the score 0-0, Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta passed a back pass and put his arm around Yannick Carrasco who went down in the box.
Spain’s La Liga leaders struggled to pierce Chelsea’s defense with the tireless N’Golo Kante providing extra protection from midfield.
Coach Diego Simeone removed Uruguay striker Luis Suarez in the 59th minute and replaced Angel Correa with little impact as he failed to repeat his feat in 2014 when he mastered the Champions League semi-final victory over the Blues.
The visitors finished the game with 10 men after Stefan Savic showed a red card in the 82nd minute for Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger’s elbow in the corner corner.
The victory left Chelsea unbeaten in 13 games since Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as coach in January. He has engineered a turn around based on a defense that has left just two goals under the German, who led Paris St Germain to last year’s final.
“This is another best performance with a well-deserved victory,” Tuchel told BT Sport although he admitted he was “a bit scared” by the penalty scare.
“They tried to push really high in the first half but they opened up some places in the back of the midfield and we could exploit it and then score a great goal. It gave us a lot of confidence, ”he said.
Simeone said Chelsea deserved the win. “The first game was more even but today they surpassed us. We tried to press them high and make it difficult for them to play out the back and we managed that occasionally, ”said the Argentinian.
“I won’t look for excuses and whether it was punitive or not. The referee made his decision. They were better than us and when your opponent is better you have to congratulate them. “