UCL: Benzema hat-trick puts Chelsea on brink of exit as Villarreal beat Bayern
BY Jonathan Ledger
Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick to lead Real Madrid to a 3-1 victory over Chelsea in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarter-final first leg tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
The highly entertaining encounter saw Benzema, Real Madrid captain and the team’s leading goalscorer, deliver again on the big night with two exquisite, unstoppable headers in a three-minute spell in the first period.
Chelsea, the reigning UCL champions, started the brighter side in the early exchanges but Real Madrid took the lead after Benzema got on the end of a cross from Vinicius.
Three minutes later, the 34-year-old France striker repeated the trick, bending a first-time Luka Modric cross into the bottom corner to double the advantage.
Kai Havertz, however, pulled a goal back with another headed goal, five minutes from the end of the first period to half the deficit at the interval.
Benzema restored the two-goal lead, thanks to an error from Edouard Mendy, Chelsea goalkeeper.
The Senegal international’s short pass was pounced upon by Benzema who slotted into an empty net to complete his hat-trick.
Lukaku, on as a substitute, wasted two gilt-edged chances while Havertz, Mason Mount, Reece James, and Hakim Ziyech all went close but could not save Chelsea from a first UCL home defeat in this season’s competition.
In the other game of the night, Villarreal stunned Bayern Munich with a 1-0 victory, with Arnaut Danjuma’s early strike giving the Spanish La Liga side a slender advantage going into the second leg in Germany next week.
RESULTS
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