Chelsea won dramatically over FC Basel by 2-1 goals in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final on Thursday. David Luiz’s last kick of the game pulled out Chelsea from the draw.Basel appeared for their first European semi-final.
Basel seemed to enter in a draw after a debatable 87th-minute penalty from Fabian Schar who cancelled out Victor Moses' early opener. Even after injury, Luiz shot a 25-yard free-kick beneath the Basel wall and into the bottom-right corner. This placed Rafael Benitez's side in control ahead of next week's return leg at Stamford Bridge.
Interim manager Benitez narrated that they played against a good team. Everyone witnessed the intensity and the pace of the game, but they had enough opportunities to score and the penalty, which came as a surprise for everyone could have made a difference. He added that it is always essential to win. However to score an away goal is crucial, but to score two and win is still better.
At the end, the only bad experience for the visitors was the yellow card for Ashley Cole that sent him out of the second leg. Of course Basel will also lose centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic for similar reason.
Chelsea ushered back Cole after a three-week absence due to a hamstring injury. However interim coach Benitez's decision to deploy centre-back Luiz in a midfield holding role displayed their caution.
Basel ousted Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the quarter-finals. In addition, they had knocked out Manchester United from last season's Champions League. Mohammed Elneny flashed a cross onto the roof of the Chelsea net which proved their menace.
However it was Chelsea who took the lead in the 12th minute, to the discontent of viewing Basel native Roger Federer. Frank Lampard drew an elegant save from Yann Sommer with a near-post volley and from the ensuing corner, the England midfielder's cross hit Moses and rebounded into the roof of the net. Basel responded instantly by briefly compelling the visitors onto the back foot. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech shot a hard Schar free-kick over the bar. On the other side, Valentin Stocker hit the outside of the post with a skilful cross from the right.
The away side ended up the half strongly. Sommer saved die hard to repel Ramires' half-volley from close range. Eden Hazard might have increased Chelsea's lead shortly before half-time. However a last-ditch challenge from Park Joo-Ho put him off just as he was about to target at the exposed Sommer. During the initial exchanges of the second period, both sides hit the woodwork with possibilities that would have grandly modified the direction of the game. Initially, Stocker hit a low strike against the base of Cech's right-hand post, before Fernando Torres witnessed a left-foot snap-shot hurtle back off an upright after a strong run down theChelsea left from Hazard.
Basel coach Murat Yakin launched Marcelo Diaz and Jacques Zoua from the bench while the hosts witnessed Fabian Frei and Zoua strike narrowly wide from exactly outside the box. The hosts' pressure started when Czech referee Pavel Kralovec penalized Cesar Azpilicueta for contacting Stocker from behind after multiple nervous moments in the Chelsea area. Schar displayed his spot-kick down the middle, before Sommer produced an astounding point-blank save to deny John Terry, only for Luiz to hit in the fourth minute of added time to finish up Basel's triumphant home record in this season's competition.
Yakin admitted that the team reacted very well to going behind and they were also looking for a winner, but at the end, they were the unfortunate team. They shouldn't have granted a goal like that, but in general it was a great performance.
In another semi-final, Fenerbahce hit the woodwork thrice against Benfica but ultimately survived through a 72nd-minute Egemen Korkmaz goal to earn a 1-0 advantage ahead of the second leg in Portugal. Korkmaz advanced home mightily from a corner at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium to award Aykut Kocaman's hosts a narrow victory as they claimed to reach their first European final.
