Chelsea survive Slavia scare to seal Europa semi-final spot
Chelsea zoomed into the semifinals of the Europa League on Wednesday thanks to a nervy 4-3 win over Slavia Prague.
The Blues led 1-0 from the first leg last week and got off to the perfect start when Pedro finished off a glorious team move to open the scoring after just five minutes.
The Spaniard was then involved in doubling the lead when he missed from yards out, only to see his shot come back off the post and hit defender Simon Deli before nestling in the net.
Olivier Giroud completed a perfect opening period when he tapped in a third and even though Slavia’s returning captain Tomas Soucek headed in for the visitors Pedro made it four just a minute after that.
However after the break Chelsea fell to pieces as Petr Sevcik beat Kepa Arrizabalaga at his near post and then fired an unstoppable effort past the home keeper in a stunning salvo.
The visitors brought on former Blue Miroslav Stoch but they were unable to find any more goals and Chelsea progress despite conceding three goals at home for the first time in the Europa League.
They will face German side Eintracht Frankfurt, who beat Benfica on away goals, for a place in the final.
Also, a free-kick from Alexandre Lacazette was enough for Arsenal to beat Napoli in Naples and progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League.
The Gunners had a 2-0 lead going into the second leg and Napoli pushed hard to try and find the goals they needed during the opening stages of the match.
However both sides were sloppy
throughout, unable to really forge any noteworthy chances.
Yet Arsenal, who lost Aaron Ramsey to a hamstring injury, scored the crucial away goal when Lacazette curled home from a set-piece, wrong-footing Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret.
The home keeper did far better later on when denying PierreEmerick Aubameyang from pointblank range but his team were unable to muster anything to truly test his opposite number.
The Gunners will face Valencia in the semi-final in a tie that will see boss Unai Emery face his former side, as well as a match-up against former Arsenal players Gabriel Paulista and Francis Coquelin.