Kai Havertz fired Chelsea into the Champions League quarter-finals to ease the pressure on under-fire manager Graham Potter.
The Germany international’s twice-taken penalty secured a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
Chelsea advanced 2-1 on aggregate after having trailed 1-0 from the round-of-16 first leg in Dortmund last month.
Raheem Sterling lashed the 2021 European champions ahead on the night in the 43rd minute after collecting a cross from Ben Chilwell.
Havertz 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 a second-half penalty against the post after Marius Wolf handled in the box.
But the spot kick was ordered to be retaken when VAR spotted encroachment in the area.
Havertz, whose goal secured the Champions League title for Chelsea in a 1-0 win in the final against Manchester City two years ago, stepped up again and coolly slotted home on his second chance 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.”
Dortmund’s players were furious about the retaken penalty, but for Chelsea, it could prove to be a turning point after a troubled six months under Potter.
A run of just two wins in 12 had placed questions over his future, and elimination from the Champions League would have increased speculation about his position.
“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.”
Chelsea had rediscovered that winning feeling just in time for arguably the biggest night of Potter’s early reign at the club.
The west London club ended its six-game winless run with a 1-0 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 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 Alexander Meyer at the second attempt after Chilwell’s cross.
Havertz put Chelsea ahead on aggregate with the aid of two interventions from VAR.
Referee Danny Makkelie was instructed to take a second look at a handball by Wolf, which prompted the official to award a spot kick.
Havertz stepped up, sent 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, 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.
“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 quarter-finals 7-1 on aggregate.