Chelsea 3-1 Basel: Blues book their place in the Europa League Final.. but Benitez gets no love
Chelsea 3-1 Basel: Blues book their place in the Europa League Final.. but Benitez gets no love
Goals from Torres, Moses and the Brazilian mean a disappointing season could still have a silver lining
Letting Luiz: David reels away in delight after making it 3-1 on the night!
Getty
They do irony at Chelsea better than anywhere else.
A club that says it wants stability, but has gone through nine managers in 10 years.
The organisation that lets its most successful and beloved coach go and then tries to offer him him a fortune to come back.
An
owner who craves the Champions League above all else but gets rid of
the bloke who delivers the Holy Grail because he never wanted him in the
first place.
But of all the ridiculous Chelsea stories, the idea
that you go out of seven competitions in a season, and then win the
eighth, the very competition that landing them in meant cost one manager
his job, under the most-detested boss in the history of the club, is
something special.
Yet Rafa Benitez WILL head to Amsterdam in a
fortnight with the Europa League in his sights, seeking the silverware
that can only underline his own self-belief.
And Chelsea, too, will expect to beat Benfica, lift the trophy, show they remain a truly remarkable, infeasible club.
The Blues have had better teams, under Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti, than this "transitional" one. Frank Lampard hits the post and nearly equals Bobby Tambling's record
AP
Some things do not change, though, even if the names in those Blue shirts do.
Benitez
has overseen the end of the era dominated by John Terry and Frank
Lampard, although only the post denied the veteran midfielder a share of
Bobby Tambling's club record.
That will have to wait, for now, although it seems inevitable that Lampard's 202nd and then 203rd Chelsea goals will come.
But
the Spaniard, unwanted by the Chelsea fans who continue to chant
Mourinho's name, has surely done everything that could have been
expected of him when he replaced Roberto Di Matteo.
There have
been slip-ups along the way, in the Capital One Cup in particular, while
the top four place he has to deliver is not yet guaranteed.
Benitez
has, though, brought order where the Di Matteo reign ended in chaos.
Has brought Eden Hazard and Juan Mata to full flower. Has made David
Luiz the player he was destined to be. And got Fernando Torres scoring
again.
Not with the fluency and verve he supplied for Benitez' Liverpool side. That task, it seems, is beyond anybody. Smelling of Moses: It's all rosy for Chelsea as they go 2-1 ahead on the night
Reuters
But it was Torres who popped up in the right place at the
right time, just as Basel looked as if they could pull off their minor
miracle and engineer an unlikely triumph.
The £50million man had
been on the receiving end of howls of derision just seconds before
Mohamed Salah waltzed through the square Blues back line to steer home
on the stroke of half-time.
Basel, too, had been decent value for
that lead. Skipper Marco Streller wasted a glorious chance within 50
seconds of the start and while Lampard played in by Torres, hit the post
and Ramires missed with the goal at his mercy the Swiss side were a
constant threat.
Streller flashed a volley inches wide, Salah
should have scored when played in and Valentin Stocker demanded a
penalty when his shot struck Ryan Bertrand's upper left arm.
A twitchy time, only for Chelsea to respond with three goals in the space of 10 minutes and kill it off.
Torres'
goal was key, too. Hazard, simply superb at times, tore forward,
leaving three defenders trailing desperately, before Lampard thrashed
left-footed at the loose ball.
Basel keeper Yann Sommer could not hold and Torres, clearly on-side, beat Ramires in the race t scoop the ball home. Dynamic duo: Torres and Hazard celebrate the equaliser they created and finished between each other
PA
It was Torres' 19th competitive goal of the season, fifth in
the Europa League and he was involved, too, in the goal that knocked the
stuffing out of the Swiss.
The creation and finish, though, came
from Victor Moses, who carried in at pace off the left and kept on
running, riding the luck to stab home at the second opportunity when
Torres' shot deflected into his path.
If Basel were not brushed
off then, they were before the hour. Lampard teed up Luiz but even the
Brazilian could barely have imagined what he was about to do, a huge,
swinging left footer from 25 yards that bent miles and ended up in the
top corner.
Sensational stuff, and no way back, even though Petr Cech's bar reverberated to Fabian Frei's long-ranger.
Maybe,
just maybe, some of the Blues fans might even, just, consider giving
Benitez a little respect. No, perhaps not. That's just silly, isn't it?
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Chelsea 3 - 1 FC Basel: All the action as Chelsea seal their place in the final
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Meanwhile, Oscar Cardozo struck twice as Benfica booked their
place in the final against Chelsea after going through on a 3-2
aggregate.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Istanbul, the Portuguese side got the start they dreamed of after just nine minutes.
Lima made a powerful run down the right and crossed for Nicolas Gaitan who steered home.
But
the visitors drew level midway through the first half when Ezequiel
Garay gave away a penalty and former Liverpool star Dirk Kuyt sent Artur
the wrong way from the spot.
Ten minutes from half time, Benfica
levelled the aggregate score when Cardozo latched on to Enzo Perez’s and
fired home left-footed.
And midway through the second half, Cardozo put Benfica on the road to Amsterdam with the decisive goal.
Luisao’s shot rebounded to the Paraguay forward to slot home and send the Portuguese crowd wild.
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