Acrobatic Giroud gives Chelsea 1-0 win

BUCHAREST, February 24

A spectacular Olivier Giroud overhead kick gave Chelsea a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg.

The French striker broke the deadlock in the 68th minute with an outrageous bicycle kick which was flagged offside but eventually given following a lengthy VAR review as the ball had come off Atletico’s Mario Hermoso before Giroud hit it.

Atletico were forced to play their home leg over 3,000 kilometres from Madrid due to Spanish restrictions on arrivals from Britain to control the spread of Covid-19 infections.

Lewandowski’s landmark

Rome: Robert Lewandowski became the Champions League’s third top scorer of all time as holders Bayern Munich put one foot in the quarterfinals with a 4-1 thrashing of Lazio in their last-16 first leg.

The Polish striker scored his 72nd goal in the competition. In doing so, he surpassed former Real Madrid striker Raul in the competition scoring charts to reach a total only bettered by Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo, with 134 goals, and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, with 119.

Bayern’s 17-year-old midfielder Jamal Musiala became the youngest English player to score in the competition. Leroy Sane tapped in a third before the break and a Francesco Acerbi own goal stretched the visitors’ advantage early in the second half. — Reuters