Late strike from Luiz hands Chelsea the advantage against Basel

BASEL, SWITZERLAND – APRIL 25: David Luiz (R) of Chelsea celebrates scoring his side’s second goal with team mate Victor Moses (L) during the UEFA Europa League Semi Final First Leg match between FC Basel 1893 and Chelsea at St. Jakob Stadium.

A tight encounter at St. Jakob Park went the way of the visitors, as Chelsea overcame Basel 2 – 1, condemning the hosts to their first home defeat in Europe this season. An early header from Moses was cancelled out by a fortuitous penalty by Schar in the final minutes of the game, before David Luiz sealed a win for the English side with the last kick of the game. It’s definitely advantage Chelsea at the end of the first leg.

There was a slow start to the game, with both sides playing at a pedestrian pace, perhaps with domestic campaigns at the back of their minds. That wasn’t to last long though, as Chelsea broke the deadlock with an away goal from a corner soon after the ten-minute mark. Frank Lampard, having seen his effort turned away for a corner, delivered the set piece into the six-yard area, where it met the head of Victor Moses, bounced into the pitch, and beat Yann Sommer at the far post. 1 – 0 to the visitors, and a quicker pace to the game.

The home side responded with an effort from a free kick by Fabian Schar, which took a deflection off a Chelsea defender and required Petr Cech to tip it over the crossbar. Soon after, Valentin Stocker went down in the Chelsea box under the keen attention of Ivanovic, and Salah followed up with a weak effort straight at Cech after the referee refused to hand out a penalty. Sadly though, the game fell back to a lull after that, with Chelsea managing to smother Basel’s attempts at getting forward quite easily. Ten minutes from the end of the half, Chelsea nearly doubled their lead when Ramires was found unmarked in the box, but Sommer pulled off a decent save, and the ball was cleared from danger.

Chelsea continued to block away Basel, with some great tracking back from the midfielders helping out the defenders, while seeming increasingly likely to score at the same time. Eden Hazard first skied an effort from the edge of the box before sending one wide from a bit closer just about a minute later. The whistle blew for half time at the right moment for the home side, who seemed a little unsure on whether or not to go all out for a goal.

There was a much brighter complexion to the game at the start of the second half, with the home side trying much harder to draw level with the visitors. Stocker made a good run inwards from the flank, and got a shot away with Petr Cech unsighted. Unfortunately for him though, it came back off the woodwork, with Cech barely moving a muscle. Chelsea returned the favour soon after as an excellent run from Hazard allowed him to pull one back for Torres, whose effort hit the inside of Sommer’s post and bounced back into play, out of harm’s way.

Chances continued to fall both ways, with Streller having a free header at the back-post from a corner for Basel, but only managing to head it wide of target. Ashley Cole and Aleksandar Dragovic picked up yellow cards for themselves in quick succession, meaning that both defenders will miss the second leg of this fixture at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea seemed set up to defend their one-goal lead for the final twenty minutes of the game, and it allowed Basel to make a few more forays into the attacking third. Substitute Marcelo Diaz curled one wide of the far post from the left edge of the box, before Salah’s first touch let him down when he could instead have been through on goal with a good one.

All of Basel’s efforts paid off four minutes from time when Azpilicueta bundled over Stocker in the fracas that followed from a corner. Schar stepped up to coolly fire home a penalty, drawing Basel level. It was a soft penalty, to say the least, but one which the visitors could do little about. Chelsea hit back almost immediately, but a good effort from Sommer and a wild shot from Oscar let Basel off the hook. Chelsea were denied yet again by a marvellous save from Sommer when a John Terry header from only a yard out was palmed wide by the Basel custodian.

Yet, it was not meant to be a good night for the home side as a late free kick, conceded by Stocker in a coming together with Ramirez, was placed through the gap in the wall by David Luiz and beat Sommer, who saw it late. A crucial second away goal for the visitors, and one which might just be enough to see them through to the finals.

Result: Basel (Fabian Schar (P) 87′) 1 – 2 Chelsea (Victor Moses 12′, David Luiz 90′ + 4)