Rubin Kazan 3-2 Chelsea (4-5 agg): Blues lose in Moscow but progress to semi-finals
Some dodgy defending threatened to make it a nervy night for Chelsea, but goals from Torres and Moses saw them through
At the double: Chelsea are still on course to win the Europa League and FA Cup
From Martin Lipton in MoscowRafa Benitez told his feuding Blues to carry on rucking after they made it through to the Europa League semi-finals.Twice ahead, first when Fernando Torres continued his marked goal rush from Frank Lampard's brilliant first time ball, and then through a Victor Moses strike, Chelsea were left thankful for their first leg advantage as they conceded three times after the break.Lampard and Brazilian David Luiz had to be separated by Petr Cech and Yossi Benayoun at half-time after rowing over a Rubin chance.But Benitez, reluctant to criticise his men for their sloppy second half display, insisted the flashes of temper were a good sign.Benitez said: "It's always good to have players arguing about things that happen on the pitch, so you can correct these things at half-time."We were talking about that, adjusting positions, so it's fine. As far as I'm concerned it's not a problem."
Goalscorers: Moses and Torres netted the vital goals for Chelsea
Reuters
There seemed no reason for any arguments when Torres scored his third of the tie after just five minutes, calmly lobbing home from 30 yards after latching onto Lampard's brilliant first-time ball.But in front of barely 15,000 in the huge bowl of the Luzhniki, where the Blues lost the Champions League Final in 2008, Chelsea switched off, worried about the plastic pitch and Sunday's looming FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City.Cech saved from Gokdeniz Karadeniz on the stroke of half-time - sparking the Lampard-Luiz row - and six minutes into the second period Ivan Marcano powered home from a corner.The response was instant, Moses exchanging with Ramires before finding the top corner from just inside the box.But for the second time, Chelsea fell asleep. Left-back Cristian Ansaldi crossed and Karadeniz climbed above Nathan Ake - making his European debut - to nod through Cech's hands.
Marc-ed man: Yossi Benayoun tackles Ivan Marcano
Reuters
Suddenly, Rubin believed, and Chelsea started to wobble. Marcano hit the outside of the post from another left-wing cross by Ansaldi cross and when Aleksandr Ryazantsev went down under a phantom challenge by Cesar Azpilicueta - Turkish referee Firat Aydinus bought the blatant dive -Bebras Natcho smashed home from the spot.Had Jose Rondon placed his close-range header - delivered on a plate from the excellent Ansaldi - either side of Cech rather than into the keeper's hands 10 minutes from time, it really would have got twitchy.Thankfully, Rubin ran out of gas and Chelsea are able to turn their attention to City. Benitez added: "We're disappointed we didn't defend well in the second half but we've gone through."Our first goal made a big difference in the tie and made us confident, but not over-confidence. It was the same with our second goal: the game felt finished but it wasn't."I was happy with the first half. In the second half we needed to deal better with the crosses. But we have to concentrate on what we do."
Some dodgy defending threatened to make it a nervy night for Chelsea, but goals from Torres and Moses saw them through
At the double: Chelsea are still on course to win the Europa League and FA Cup From Martin Lipton in MoscowRafa Benitez told his feuding Blues to carry on rucking after they made it through to the Europa League semi-finals.Twice ahead, first when Fernando Torres continued his marked goal rush from Frank Lampard's brilliant first time ball, and then through a Victor Moses strike, Chelsea were left thankful for their first leg advantage as they conceded three times after the break.Lampard and Brazilian David Luiz had to be separated by Petr Cech and Yossi Benayoun at half-time after rowing over a Rubin chance.But Benitez, reluctant to criticise his men for their sloppy second half display, insisted the flashes of temper were a good sign.Benitez said: "It's always good to have players arguing about things that happen on the pitch, so you can correct these things at half-time."We were talking about that, adjusting positions, so it's fine. As far as I'm concerned it's not a problem."
Goalscorers: Moses and Torres netted the vital goals for Chelsea Reuters
There seemed no reason for any arguments when Torres scored his third of the tie after just five minutes, calmly lobbing home from 30 yards after latching onto Lampard's brilliant first-time ball.But in front of barely 15,000 in the huge bowl of the Luzhniki, where the Blues lost the Champions League Final in 2008, Chelsea switched off, worried about the plastic pitch and Sunday's looming FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City.Cech saved from Gokdeniz Karadeniz on the stroke of half-time - sparking the Lampard-Luiz row - and six minutes into the second period Ivan Marcano powered home from a corner.The response was instant, Moses exchanging with Ramires before finding the top corner from just inside the box.But for the second time, Chelsea fell asleep. Left-back Cristian Ansaldi crossed and Karadeniz climbed above Nathan Ake - making his European debut - to nod through Cech's hands.
Marc-ed man: Yossi Benayoun tackles Ivan Marcano Reuters
Suddenly, Rubin believed, and Chelsea started to wobble. Marcano hit the outside of the post from another left-wing cross by Ansaldi cross and when Aleksandr Ryazantsev went down under a phantom challenge by Cesar Azpilicueta - Turkish referee Firat Aydinus bought the blatant dive -Bebras Natcho smashed home from the spot.Had Jose Rondon placed his close-range header - delivered on a plate from the excellent Ansaldi - either side of Cech rather than into the keeper's hands 10 minutes from time, it really would have got twitchy.Thankfully, Rubin ran out of gas and Chelsea are able to turn their attention to City. Benitez added: "We're disappointed we didn't defend well in the second half but we've gone through."Our first goal made a big difference in the tie and made us confident, but not over-confidence. It was the same with our second goal: the game felt finished but it wasn't."I was happy with the first half. In the second half we needed to deal better with the crosses. But we have to concentrate on what we do."