It is advantage Chelsea ahead of their Champions League Round of 16 second leg tie with Atletico Madrid as the Blues held their own to secure a remarkable away win on Tuesday night. What was a predictably tight encounter was settled by Olivier Giroud, with the Frenchman scoring a stunning overhead-kick goal to turn the tide in his side's favor inside the National Arena in Bucharest.
With very little action ensuing for a little over an hour, it was Chelsea who finally broke the deadlock to set-up a grandstand finale. Thomas Tuchel's men orchestrated a swift counterattacking move which almost broke down but ended up serving them with the defining moment.
Marcos Alonso's cross aimed at finding a teammate at the edge of the penalty box missed its way but ending up deflecting off Hermoso into the path of Giroud. The former Arsenal man then instinctively finished it off with an overhead kick but saw the goal being ruled out as he appeared to be in an offside position before scoring. However, a lengthy check by the Video Assistant Referee awarded the visitors the goal. Watch:
Imagine if Joao Felix pulled this off pic.twitter.com/737H07itnN
— Champions League on CBS Sports (@UCLonCBSSports) February 23, 2021
In turn, Olivier Giroud became the first Chelsea player to score six or more goals in a Champions League campaign since Didier Drogba (6) in the 2011/12 season. Interestingly, all of the 34-year-old striker's goals have come in away appearances. The player has so far scored 15 goals in his 16 starts for Chelsea across the UEFA Champions League and Europa League.
