Chelsea head coach Graham Potter praised the atmosphere as he hailed a "special night" at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in their Champions League last-16 second leg.
Heading into the game 1-0 down from the first leg in Germany, Chelsea started well and scored either side of half-time through Raheem Sterling and a retaken Kai Havertz penalty.
Dortmund arrived on the back of winning 10 games in a row, but had no answer to a Chelsea team seemingly buoyed by the weekend's victory against Leeds United, which was only their second in 12 games prior to Tuesday.
"Really pleased. Fantastic atmosphere, fantastic evening," Potter said at his post-match press conference. "The players and supporters were tremendous. We had to be against a team that have 10 wins on the bounce. It was a special night."
The Premier League side were without the injured Thiago Silva and unregistered Benoit Badiashile, with Marc Cucurella coming into the back three, and Potter was impressed with the Spaniard, who has faced criticism from fans for recent performances.
"I think he got man of the match, didn't he?" Potter asked. "I'm delighted for him. When you're having a bad time like we have, you accept the criticism. Marc has dealt with it well. We've tried to shield him a bit and pick the moment. With Benoit not available, he gave us the left foot and balance in a back-three and thankfully he delivered a top performance."
It made it back-to-back wins for Chelsea for the first time since October, and Potter addressed the recent dip in form and fan reaction directed at him.
"I think the supporters have been really fair with us," he said. "Supporters care, so when the results aren't what they want, they feel pain. They need to articulate that pain somehow, to get rid of it.
"They've been really supportive, they really have. They've stuck with the team and helped us on the pitch. You always need a bit of luck. I would say before the World Cup, we had nine players out. If you have all these players out, and tonight [Dortmund] had some players missing and that goes in our favour. I'm not going to complain about that at all."
He later added: "Inevitably, in life, you're going to have bad times and good times. I don't see any other way to look at it. It's how you react to the bad times, get some perspective and analyse it in the correct way. Things are never bad forever but it felt like that sometimes."
Potter was also asked if he had spoken to owner Todd Boehly, who was in attendance, to which he quipped: "Yeah I have, yeah. We're still here, I'm still here."
Werder Bremen 0-0 Borussia Dortmund: Schlotterbeck sent off as BVB are held
Borussia Dortmund were held to a 0-0 draw at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Defender Nico Schlotterbeck was sent off for Dortmund in the second half and Nuri Sahin’s side ultimately had to settle for a point.
After an underwhelming start to the match, the visitors were more aggressive following the interval, with substitute Karim Adeyemi making an instant impact with an effort from more than 20 yards out. But Bremen goalkeeper Michael Zetterer was in place to deny the forward.
Dortmund were reduced to 10 men in the 73rd minute when centre-back Schlotterbeck received a second yellow card for sliding in on Bremen forward Justin Njinmah.
BVB still pushed for a winner despite their numerical disadvantage, but a solid Bremen defence withstood late pressure to secure a point at home.
Data Debrief: Defences on top
Neither side can claim they were hugely unfortunate not to have scored, with Dortmund’s expected goals (xG) total of 0.61 only coming in marginally ahead of the hosts (0.41).
BVB did have four shots on target, although all four came from the 58th minute onwards with two of them from substitutes in Adeyemi and Donyell Malen, while Bremen only tested Gregor Kobel – who now has two straight clean sheets – on one occasion.
It was Marvin Ducksch who had the hosts’ only shot on target in his 100th Bundesliga appearance, the first six of which came as a Dortmund player.
The result means Bremen end a run of four straight home defeats to Dortmund in Bundesliga play, although they have now gone nine such matches without a victory.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
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