LONDON: Fernando Torres ended a 26-game goal drought as Chelsea reached the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday, and Liverpool ensured a second trip to Wembley Stadium this season.
Torres ended his five-month goal drought as Chelsea cruised with a 5-2 victory over Leicester at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Torres has endured a miserable time since his British record 50 million pounds transfer from Liverpool in January 2011 but the Spain striker took advantage of Leicester’s sloppy defending to score twice and secure a much-needed boost to his fragile confidence.
Gary Cahill put Chelsea ahead early in the first half of the quarterfinal and Salomon Kalou added the second soon after. But it was Torres’s increasingly rare appearance on the scoresheet that took the spotlight.
Torres had gone more than 24 hours of playing time without scoring — dating back to a double against Genk in October — and there was a huge sense of relief around the Bridge when he tucked away a simple chance midway through the second-half.
When Torres scored again in the closing moments, the roar was loud enough to suggest Chelsea had actually won the Cup and the much-maligned star followed that by setting up Raul Meireles for Chelsea’s fifth goal.
Leicester got a couple of late goals from Jermaine Beckford and Ben Marshall but Nigel Pearson’s Championship side never threatened to spoil the feel good factor around the Bridge.
Liverpool, meanwhile, booked their second Wembley appearance of the season by beating Stoke 2-1 in the FA Cup quarterfinals at Anfield on Sunday. Stewart Downing’s second half strike settled the last eight tie after Liverpool striker Luis Suarez had seen his opener cancelled out within a matter of minutes by former Reds forward Peter Crouch. Now Liverpool, who earlier this season won the League Cup final at Wembley, will be heading back to the north London ground for what could be a Merseyside derby semi-final next month if Everton win their replay with Sunderland. (Agencies)