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Tammy Abraham grabbed a birthday goal and Willian marked his 300th Chelsea appearance with the second as Chelsea won 2-1 in Lille.<\/p>\nTammy Abraham grabbed a birthday goal and Willian marked his 300th Chelsea appearance with the second as Chelsea won 2-1 in Lille.<\/p>\n
Abraham, expected to earn an England call-up on Thursday, registered his first Champions League goal before Lille equalized through their own exciting young striker, Victor Osimhen.<\/p>\n
But Willian\u2019s late volley secured a crucial first three points for Frank Lampard\u2019s side in Group H.<\/p>\n
Lampard had played down the significance of this match but after dropping all three points to Valencia at home two weeks ago, and with a trip to to Ajax next up, the margin for error would have got a lot smaller without a victory.<\/p>\n
Lampard was able to recall a fit-again N\u2019Golo Kante but there was no place in the squad for Ross Barkley following his Sunday night row with a taxi driver in Liverpool.<\/p>\n
Much has been made of Chelsea\u2019s lack of experience \u2013 Lampard had four academy graduates in his side \u2013 but Lille themselves have an average age of less than 24.<\/p>\n
Osimhen was already troubling the Chelsea defense and when Kurt Zouma\u2019s sliced clearance looped towards the 20-year-old, goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had to come out of his area to head clear.<\/p>\n
Abraham celebrated his 22nd birthday with a goal in the 22nd minute after Marcos Alonso, in an advanced position down the left, laid the ball back to Fikayo Tomori.<\/p>\n
The young defender launched it into the area where Abraham, just onside, was able to control the ball, spin and place it beyond Lille keeper Mike Maignan.<\/p>\n
Stung into action, Lille looked to hit back straight away and Kepa had to get down low to his right to claw out a curling effort from Luiz Araujo.<\/p>\n
But Kepa could do nothing to prevent an unmarked Osimhen from heading in at the far post from a corner to equalize.<\/p>\n
Nigeria will lose out on Abraham once he makes his competitive debut for England, but the country\u2019s attack looks in safe hands with Osimhen.<\/p>\n
Chelsea pressed for a second before half-time but Alonso curled a free-kick too high and headed a Mount cross over before Jorginho\u2019s effort clipped the outside of a post.<\/p>\n
The visitors were almost undone at another corner after the break, Benjamin Andre in yards of space when he glanced a header across goal and narrowly wide.<\/p>\n
Osimhen showed his rawness when put through in the inside right channel, opting to shoot when a ball across goal looked the better option, and blazed over.<\/p>\n
That was a let-off for Chelsea, but they nearly let Lille off the hook when Abraham teed up Mount who hooked his shot wide.<\/p>\n
However, when substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi got free down the left and lifted the ball towards with far post, Willian struck a volley into the ground and over Maignan.<\/p>\n
There was still time for Kepa to almost gift Lille another equalizer when he sliced a clearance straight at Boubakary Soumare, but the keeper saved at his feet to ensure Chelsea got their European campaign up and running.<\/p>\n