Chelsea Advances To Europa League Final

Chelsea reached the Europa League final thanks to a 3-1 triumph in the second leg against Basel at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.

The Blues held a 2-1 advantage from the first encounter in Switzerland, and although they fell behind in the first half, they flexed their muscles in the final 45 minutes to advance to the final at the Amsterdam ArenA later in May.

Mohamed Salah gave the visitors the lead on the cusp of halftime but the English Premier League club stormed back courtesy of goals from Fernando Torres, David Luiz and Victor Moses.

Basel sprinted out of the starting blocks and almost opened the scoring in the first minute but Marco Streller sent his shot wide when he really should have hit the target.

Chelsea had a chance of its own in the 10th minute when Frank Lampard unleashed a low shot that bounced off the post.

Streller had another good chance but his volley flew just inches wide of the target. The visitors then opened the scoring on the cusp of half-time when Salah beat the offside trap and slotted the ball past Petr Cech.

It was 1-0 on the night and 2-2 on aggregate and the second half promised to be a real cracker at Stamford Bridge.

The Champions League holders wasted no time in finding an equaliser early in the second session as Torres pounced on a rebound and made no mistake from close range.

Moses then made it 2-1 on the evening only moments later when he had two chances to bundle the ball into the back of the net.

Luiz got into the act when his curling effort left Yann Sommer with no chance as three goals in 15 minutes put the English club ahead 5-2 on aggregate.

Chelsea now advances to the Europe League final where it will lock horns with Benfica on May 25th in Amsterdam.