LONDON:Chelsea crushed FC Basel 3-1 on Thursday for a 5-2 aggregate semi-final victory to secure their place in the Europa League final against Portugal’s Benfica later this month in Amsterdam.
The reigning European champions, 2-1 ahead from the first leg in Switzerland last week, lost that advantage when Mohamed Salah scored for the Swiss champions with the last kick of the first half, curling his shot past Chelsea keeper Petr Cech.
But interim coach Rafa Benitez’s men came storming back with three goals in nine minutes early in the second half. Fernando Torres, Victor Moses and David Luiz all scored – the curly-haired Brazilian with a stunning 25-metre curling shot that effectively ended Basel’s resistance after 59 minutes.
Frank Lampard, needing one goal to equal Bobby Tambling’s all-time Chelsea scoring record of 202, almost got it but hit the post with a fine strike in the ninth minute while Fabian Frei of Basel smashed the ball against the bar in the 63rd minute.
Chelsea will become the first club to follow up victory in the Champions League with success the next season in the Europa League if they win in Amsterdam and only the fourth side to win all three of UEFA’s senior trophies.
Despite failing to advance to the later stages of the Champions League, Chelsea played with the authority of champions against a well-disciplined and never over-awed Swiss side.
The opening goal came after a period of Basel pressure and followed a near-miss from Marco Streller who volleyed wide after 26 minutes.
They made the breakthrough when captain Valentin Stocker sliced apart the Chelsea defence with a perfectly weighted ball for Salah to collect, beat the offside trap and score.
Whatever doubts Chelsea may have had during the halftime break would have been quickly dispelled in a blistering spell after Torres made it 1-1 in the 50th minute, powering a rebound off goalkeeper Yann Sommer who failed to hold Lampard’s shot.
Less than three minutes later, Moses took advantage of a lucky bounce off a Basel defender to make it 2-1 before Luiz, who scored for Chelsea in the first leg with the last kick of the game, made it 3-1 with a stunning goal that left Sommer totally stranded. Benfica beat Fenerbahce 3-1 in Lisbon in the second leg to win 3-2 on aggregate. (Agencies)
