Chelsea vs Eintracht Frankfurt. UEFA Europa League Semi-Final.
Stamford BridgeAttendance36,070.
2-2
Chelsea win 4-3 on penalties.
Chelsea will face Arsenal in the final in Baku on May 29
Friday 10 May 2019 00:14, UK
Chelsea beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-3 on penalties to progress to the Europa League final after the two sides were locked together 2-2 on aggregate following extra time on Thursday night.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek had given Chelsea a 28th-minute lead with a well-taken goal, the England midfielder's 10th of the season, four of which have come in this competition.
However, in-form forward Luka Jovic drew the visitors level four minutes into the second half with his 27th strike of the campaign, before the semi-final, second leg went to penalties.
And despite Cesar Azpilicueta seeing his spot kick saved by Kevin Trapp, Kepa Arrizabalaga then kept out two Frankfurt penalties to be his side's hero in the shootout, before Eden Hazard coolly rolled home the final penalty to set up a final with Arsenal in Baku on May 29.
Both sides went close to making the crucial first breakthrough, with Kepa showing brilliant reflexes to turn over Danny Da Costa's well-struck volley, before David Luiz saw his clever back header cleared off the line.
However, it was the home side who did open the scoring after a lovely bit of skill from that man Eden Hazard, whose quick feet enabled him to evade the attentions of two opponents in a tight space.
And the Belgian had the awareness to pick out Loftus-Cheek's run down the left side of the box, with the midfielder then keeping his cool to side-foot the ball past the advancing Trapp and into the bottom right-hand corner.
The visitors, who are currently fourth in the Bundesliga, were reinvigorated after the break and soon got on level terms after a beautifully worked goal involving Mijat Gacinovic and Jovic.
The duo played a neat one-two, before Gacinovic's clever through pass picked out Jovic free in the box, with the Serb doing the rest for his 10th goal in the competition, joint highest with Chelsea's Olivier Giroud.
That goal appeared to give Frankfurt renewed belief as they tore into Chelsea, who did well to hold on and take the tie into extra time, although the added half an hour also brought a number of scares.
Twice in the first half of extra time substitute Sebastien Haller saw efforts cleared off the line by Luiz and Azpilicueta, although the hosts also had a 'goal' ruled out for a foul on Trapp by their captain with just four minutes to go.
All of which meant the dreaded penalties, with Azpilicueta the first to fail, only for Kepa to come to Chelsea's rescue with two excellent stops to keep out efforts from Martin Hinteregger and substitute Goncalo Paciencia.
Speaking on The Debate, Ally McCoist says Unai Emery can afford to lose the Europa League final, but it's a different story for Maurizio Sarri.
"I think Emery, even if he loses the final, has seen a good improvement in Arsenal. He knows what he needs to do, strengthen defensively, and he'll get away with it.
"There has been more pressure on Sarri with one or two things not going his way. He could end up winning the Europa League and finishing third, and you'd have to say that's a fantastic season for Chelsea."
The England international was easily Chelsea's brightest and most inventive performer on a night in which the home team struggled for fluency.
The midfielder gave the Blues a crucial lead, which they failed to build on, while his substitution with four minutes left of normal time impacted negatively on the hosts in extra time.
However, with 10 goals in all competitions to his name so far this campaign, the 23-year-old has enjoyed a hugely impressive season at the Bridge, and one that may now end with a trophy.
Chelsea take on Leicester City at the King Power Stadium in their final Premier League game of the season on Sunday, with the match kicking off at 3pm.
Meanwhile, Frankfurt host Mainz in their penultimate Bundesliga fixture of the season on Sunday (5pm).
