Torres fires Chelsea as Spurs held
Source: Agencies |
April 6, 2013, Saturday
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THE much-maligned Europa League threw up a bumper mix of goals, controversy and defensive blunders on Thursday as Chelsea, Benfica and Fenerbahce won by two-goal margins at home and Basel held Tottenham Hotspur.
Host Tottenham, the only former winner still in the competition, was at times outplayed by Switzerland's Basel, the only domestic champion in the last eight, but scrambled a 2-2 draw in their quarterfinal first leg where Gareth Bale went off injured.
Fenerbahce scored two late goals, the first a highly debatable penalty, in a 2-0 win over Lazio, which played nearly the whole of the second half with 10 men.
Two goals from under-pressure Fernando Torres gave European champion Chelsea a 3-1 win at home to Russia's Rubin Kazan and Benfica won by the same score in Lisbon against blunder-prone Newcastle United, which twice hit the post.
"Fernando needed to score a goal," Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez told reporters. "We could see today the confidence, we could see he can work hard... He will score goals until the end of the season."
Lazio, which must overturn its first-leg deficit behind closed doors in Rome next week, had the better of the first half but was soon in trouble when Ogenyi Onazi was sent off for a second bookable offense straight after the restart.
Raul Meireles hit the post as Fenerbahce took control but it needed a soft penalty, awarded after the ball hit Stefan Radu's raised arm and converted by Cameroon's Pierre Webo, to break through in the 78th minute.
Dutchman Dirk Kuyt added the second in stoppage time.
Basel, which last season knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League, stunned White Hart Lane when Valentin Stocker and Fabian Frei scored within a four-minute first-half spell.
Emmanuel Adebayor pulled one back before the break for Tottenham, twice winner of the old UEFA Cup, and substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson leveled with a deflected shot just after the hour. Basel continued to dominate either side of his goal and could easily have snatched a shock win.
Newcastle appeared to have the upper hand in Lisbon when Papiss Cisse tapped in a pinpoint cross from French midfielder Moussa Sissoko after 12 minutes and the Senegalese striker also had a shot turned on to the post by goalkeeper Arthur.
Instead, Benfica leveled when Oscar Cardozo's thumping shot was parried by Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, the defense was slow to react and Rodrigo pounced to equalize.
Cisse chipped another shot against the post on the counter-attack early in the second half before Benfica was gifted the lead in the 65th. Davide Santon's poor back pass was intercepted by Lima and the Brazilian dribbled past Krul and easily slid the ball in. It got worse for Newcastle as Steven Taylor handled in the area and Cardozo added a third from the spot two minutes later.
Host Tottenham, the only former winner still in the competition, was at times outplayed by Switzerland's Basel, the only domestic champion in the last eight, but scrambled a 2-2 draw in their quarterfinal first leg where Gareth Bale went off injured.
Fenerbahce scored two late goals, the first a highly debatable penalty, in a 2-0 win over Lazio, which played nearly the whole of the second half with 10 men.
Two goals from under-pressure Fernando Torres gave European champion Chelsea a 3-1 win at home to Russia's Rubin Kazan and Benfica won by the same score in Lisbon against blunder-prone Newcastle United, which twice hit the post.
"Fernando needed to score a goal," Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez told reporters. "We could see today the confidence, we could see he can work hard... He will score goals until the end of the season."
Lazio, which must overturn its first-leg deficit behind closed doors in Rome next week, had the better of the first half but was soon in trouble when Ogenyi Onazi was sent off for a second bookable offense straight after the restart.
Raul Meireles hit the post as Fenerbahce took control but it needed a soft penalty, awarded after the ball hit Stefan Radu's raised arm and converted by Cameroon's Pierre Webo, to break through in the 78th minute.
Dutchman Dirk Kuyt added the second in stoppage time.
Basel, which last season knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League, stunned White Hart Lane when Valentin Stocker and Fabian Frei scored within a four-minute first-half spell.
Emmanuel Adebayor pulled one back before the break for Tottenham, twice winner of the old UEFA Cup, and substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson leveled with a deflected shot just after the hour. Basel continued to dominate either side of his goal and could easily have snatched a shock win.
Newcastle appeared to have the upper hand in Lisbon when Papiss Cisse tapped in a pinpoint cross from French midfielder Moussa Sissoko after 12 minutes and the Senegalese striker also had a shot turned on to the post by goalkeeper Arthur.
Instead, Benfica leveled when Oscar Cardozo's thumping shot was parried by Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, the defense was slow to react and Rodrigo pounced to equalize.
Cisse chipped another shot against the post on the counter-attack early in the second half before Benfica was gifted the lead in the 65th. Davide Santon's poor back pass was intercepted by Lima and the Brazilian dribbled past Krul and easily slid the ball in. It got worse for Newcastle as Steven Taylor handled in the area and Cardozo added a third from the spot two minutes later.
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