Day: March 8, 2023

London, Mar. 8 (BNA): Maybe this will be the turning point for under fire Chelsea manager Graham Potter.

He went into Tuesday’s game against Borussia Dortmund with questions hanging over his future. Now he has the Champions League quarterfinals to look forward to, AP reported.

Kai Havertz’ twice-taken penalty secured a 2-0 win in front co-owner Todd Boehly at Stamford Bridge to ease the pressure on Potter and spark celebrations inside the stadium rarely seen during such a troubled campaign.

Chelsea advanced 2-1 on aggregate after having trailed 1-0 from the round-of-16 first leg in Dortmund last month.

“We have been through a tough period and this competition means a lot for us,” Potter said. “We wanted to progress and get into the last eight and it sets us up for the next few weeks.”

There certainly were positives for Potter to take from the most important win of his early reign.

Not only did his team show the character to recover from losing the first leg, it did so by scoring two goals in a game for the first time in 2023.

Following Saturday’s 1-0 win against Leeds, this is the first time Chelsea has recorded back-to-back victories since October.

Notably, it was also a night when Potter’s luck may have turned, with VAR playing a major role in the Havertz winner after Raheem Sterling had lashed the 2021 European champions ahead on the night in the 43rd minute.

Referee Danny Makkelie was instructed to take a second look at a handball by Marius Wolf, which prompted the official to award a spot kick.

Havertz stepped up, sent Alexander Meyer the wrong way, but saw his shot come back off the post and cleared.

As Dortmund celebrated, VAR got to work again this time spotting an encroachment in the box, which meant the kick had to be retaken.

Havertz repeated his technique, sent Meyer in the opposite direction again, but on this occasion, he found the back of the net to put Chelsea in front in the 53rd.

“I don’t know what I was thinking but the referee let me retake the penalty,” he said. “I was a bit nervous but I scored. I tried to wait and look at the keeper and the second one was a bit easier.”

Potter admitted he couldn’t watch the second penalty.

A run of just two wins in 12 had increased speculation about his future, and elimination from the Champions League would have placed further scrutiny on his position.

Chelsea had rediscovered that winning feeling just in time for the biggest night of his early reign.

The west London club ended its six-game winless run with victory against Leeds on Saturday, but the pressure was still on the manager given the manner in which the season has unravelled since October.

The Champions League represents Chelsea’s last chance for silverware and possibly the only route back into next season’s competition for the two-time European champions, who currently sit 10th in the Premier League.

Dortmund arrived on the back of 10 straight wins in all competitions, including the 1-0 victory in the first leg.

The German team also has one of the most sought-after players in world soccer in England midfielder Jude Bellingham, but it received an early blow when key player Julian Brandt was injured and substituted after just five minutes.

Chelsea went on to dominate the half and took the lead two minutes before the break through Sterling, who fired past Dortmund goalkeeper Meyer at the second attempt after Ben Chilwell’s cross.

Havertz, whose goal secured the Champions League title for Chelsea in a 1-0 win in the final against Manchester City two years ago, had already hit the post in the first half and seen another effort ruled out for offside.

And he thought he had let another chance go by when firing his first penalty against the post before VAR came to his rescue.

“The last two weeks were hard, we lost a lot of games,” Havertz said. “Tonight was important. This is a big tournament and it’s the last trophy that we can win. We showed character and that we want to keep going.”

While Bellingham described the retaken penalty as a “joke,” Dortmund coach Edin Terzic resisted the temptation to criticize the referee.

“Fair play to Chelsea and congratulations,” he said. “Both games were very close for both teams but, at the end of the day, they deserved it.”

In the night’s other game, Benfica routed Club Brugge 5-1 to advance to the quarterfinals 7-1 on aggregate.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Orlando, Mar. 8 (BNA): Brook Lopez scored 26 points, Khris Middleton and Jevon Carter each added 24 points and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic 134-123 on Tuesday night for their 18th win in 19 games.

Bobby Portis Jr. had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Jae Crowder added 15 points for the Bucks, who shot 59% and ran their winning streak against the Magic to 14 games, AP reports.

Playing without All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo (non-COVID-19 illness) and Jrue Holiday (sore neck), the Bucks had little trouble finding the right combinations in stretching their league-best record to 47-18.

“I really think it’s just the caliber of players we have,” Lopez said. “We’ve got guys who are high basketball IQ and are unselfish, team first. It’s great to have a couple of those guys, but to have a bench full of them, we’re really lucky.”

Middleton, starting for the first time since Dec. 15, had 11 assists.

“It’s crazy that we played so long without him this season,” Lopez said, “but it was obviously important for him to get healthy and get right.”

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said it was time to increase Middleton’s playing time.

“It felt like it was the right time for (Middleton) to get up to the 30-minute plateau, with Jrue and Giannis not playing,” Budenholzer said.

“Just doing a little bit of everything, he set a good tone for us early. We were fortunate to have him come off the bench for us for a long time, and now he’s going to continue to do those things where he’s always been, in our starting lineup.”

Cole Anthony led the Magic with 23 points. Franz Wagner added 21 points and Paolo Banchero had 20 points and five rebounds.

“I didn’t see much,” said Anthony of the Magic’s defensive effort. “I think they scored at least 32 points every single quarter (36-34-32-32). We just had no answer. We couldn’t stop them.”

The Bucks pulled away from a 51-all tie and led 70-60 after a first half in which Lopez scored 19 points.

Crowder, playing in only his sixth game with the Bucks, scored seven straight points late in the third quarter to put the Bucks up 98-83.

“That’s kind of a sliver lining to a couple guys not playing,” Budenholzer said. “He got to play a lot of minutes. He got a good rhythm and he made shots.”

The Magic were down by eight points until Portis and Middleton led a fourth-quarter charge that pushed the Bucks’ lead to 16, their largest of the game.

“They are playing great basketball right now confident, playing like a well-oiled machine,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “They share, they move it, they trust their shot. You have to give them a ton of credit.”

TIP-INS

Bucks: G Lindell Wigginton played 31 seconds after signing a two-way contract Tuesday. … G Goran Dragic, who signed with Milwaukee on Saturday, is rehabbing a sore left knee and is close to playing, according to coach Mike Budenholzer. … Carter, who went into the game as the NBA’s 12th-leading 3-point shooter, made 4 of 5 attempts. . . . The Bucks made 32 of 34 free throws.

Magic: C Wendell Carter (left hip) and G Gary Harris (sore left abductor) sat out a second straight game. … The Magic shot 26 for 95 (27.4%) from 3-point range in three games against Milwaukee.

HEALTHY YEAR FOR LOPEZ

Budenholzer did not hesitate when asked why the Bucks are so much better this season when playing with key pieces missing.

“If you’re just going back to last year, Brook Lopez basically missed the entire season,” he said. “So when Jrue and Chris and Giannis were missing, it was always in addition to Brook. Brook’s playing at a high level; he’s been excellent on both ends of the court. … Besides the depth of the roster, I think Brooks’ health and quality of play has just been off the charts.”

Antetokounmpo has missed 13 games this season. Holiday has missed 14 and Middleton has missed 43. Lopez has missed only one.

Source: Bahrain News Agency