It was a tough night for Chelsea who faced a dedicated Romanian side ready to give their all in order to advance to the next stage of the Europa League. The Blues were once again saved by the brilliance of players such as Mata, Hazard and Terry. The players are still struggling to find genuine team unity but tonight they did manage to pull together to turn in a professional enough performance to get the win.
The first half was unexpectedly balanced and gave hope to the passionate group of Romanian fans who supported their team throughout the match. Steaua managed to fend off most attacks from Torres and Hazard, but failed to keep up with a nice series of passes between Ramires and Mata that ended with the Spaniards’ goal putting Chelsea 1-0 up on the night.
There were some pretty tough challenges from both sides but none ending with serious consequences. Chelsea had some good chances after their first goal but failed to score again. The first half ended with one of the most promising Romanian players’ goal. Chiriches was in the right place at the right time and managed to put the ball in the back of the net from only 2 feet away from goal.
The second half started off pretty intensely but without any clear cut chances for either side. The 58th minute came with a goal for the Blues. A well-executed free kick gave Terry the chance to score with an accurate header offering his team a good 30 minutes to close the deal, score again and move on to the next stage of the competition.
The next 15 minutes provided fans with a high tempo confrontation, but with only two goal scoring chances coming from both of the sides. Chipciu for Steaua and Hazard for Chelsea were both denied by the respective goalkeepers.
Then the 71st minute came. Torres managed to score after a long dry spell with a good finish into the corner and provided his team with the necessary 2 goal advantage on the night. The Romanians went all out, making changes finishing the match with 3 strikers but they could not find a way back.
With five minutes left the threatening Hazard was brought down in the area and the spot kick was correctly awarded. With usual penalty taker Frank Lampard not on the field, Torres failed to make it a double on the night and give Chelsea some breathing room as he crashed his shot off the bar and over. Benitez brought Moses and Benayoun on in the last few minutes of the game to kill off time and preserve the result in the Blues’ favor and a place in the quarter finals.