LONDON: After his spectacular overhead kick found the net to break the deadlock in a difficult match in Bucharest, all Olivier Giroud could do was wait.

And wait and wait.

Giroud’s 68th-minute bicycle-kick goal against Atletico Madrid was initially disallowed for offside and it took nearly three minutes for video review to reverse the call and secure Chelsea the 1-0 away win in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.

Giroud was clearly in front of the defenders when he pulled off his acrobatic shot and few Chelsea players complained when the linesman raised his flag, but VAR determined that the ball came from Atletico defender Mario Hermoso instead of Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount, thus annulling the offside.

“I did not know what to think about the goal, I just focused on hitting the overhead kick and was pleased to see it go in the back of the net, I had no clue about being offside,” Giroud said. “Mason Mount said he did not touch the ball. Good for the team, good for me.”

The result kept Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel unbeaten in eight matches since he took over the squad to replace Frank Lampard.

“Fantastic result, fantastic goal. Well deserved,” Tuchel said. “It was a very disciplined performance a deserved shutout.”

Atletico were the home team but the match was played in Romania due to Spanish restrictions on arrivals from Britain to control the spread of Covid-19 infections.

Diego Simeone’s side had put on a typically disciplined defensive performance until that point but Giroud’s moment of genius means they will have to score in London on March 17 if they are to avoid an early exit.

It also continues a worrying dip for Atletico, whose lead in La Liga is also under threat after one win in four matches.

“If you’d said to me in September we’d lose this first leg 1-0 and be top of the league, I’d have signed for that for sure,” said Simeone. “The results aren’t going for us so we have to work, work, work and work.”

Teenager Jamal Musiala became Bayern Munich’s youngest-ever goal-scorer in the Champions League as he helped his team rout Lazio 4-1 in Rome in the other round-of-16 first leg on Tuesday.

“We are a huge step closer to the quarter-finals,” Bayern coach Hansi Flick told Sky.

The 17-year-old Musiala also became the youngest English player to score in the competition when he netted Bayern’s second goal.

Robert Lewandowski had earlier given Bayern the lead after a howler from Lazio and Leroy Sane put the defending champion firmly in control at the end of the first half at the Stadio Olimpico.

Francesco Acerbi netted an own goal at the start of the second half as Lazio’s first appearance in the Champions League knockout stage for 20 years went from bad to worse. Joaquin Correa scored a consolation for the Italian side, who were woeful defensively.

“Bayern are the world champions,” Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi said. “They definitely did not need our mistakes to make it even easier for them.”

OVERHEAD KICK

Atletico have led the La Liga standings for most of the season but have experienced a dip in form in February and went into Tuesday’s match smarting from a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Levante after drawing two of their previous three games.

Deprived of the usual raucous atmosphere they would normally expect for a European knockout game at the Wanda Metropolitano and forced to take a four-hour flight to the game, there was little sense of them having a home advantage.

They played with little ambition or intensity and could not manage a single shot on target to bother Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy.

Chelsea played with more confidence and purpose and were only let down by their final pass.

Luckily for them, they could count on the improvisation of Giroud when Hermoso’s attempted clearance sent the ball looping backwards and within range of the Frenchman. Giroud reached up high with his left foot to send the ball toward the corner past Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

“It’s been a difficult week but we have to keep competing,” Atletico midfielder Koke Resurreccin said. “We have to raise our heads and try to win the second leg. There’s no other option for us.”

Oblak said his side had been too anxious in attack but insisted their spirits remained high.

“In the dressing room I saw a team with its head held high and I’m convinced we’re going to improve,” he said.

LEWANDOWSKI LANDMARK

Lewandowski became the Champions League’s third top scorer of all time when the Polish striker anticipated a loose pass from Mateo Musacchio and rounded Pepe Reina to steer in 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.

“We were aggressive from the start and went full throttle,” Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka said after his first appearance since testing positive for Covid-19. “I am happy to have played in such an awesome game after a difficult few weeks.”

England Under-21 international Musiala, who is also eligible to play for Germany, fired into the bottom corner after 24 minutes.

Bayern then put the contest beyond doubt when Sane tapped in from a Reina parry and Acerbi diverted a cross into his own net either side of the break.

Lazio produced chances of their own, finishing the game with 14 attempts to Bayern’s 13, but Correa’s weaving run and finish was their only successful effort.

“We knew beating Bayern was difficult,” Lazio midfielder Lucas Leiva told Lazio Style. “But we helped them by how we played. This isn’t the Lazio that we know, it was a difficult night. We need to learn from this defeat and take the experience, then we’ll go to Munich to play with pride and mentality.”

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2021