Swansea 2-0

Independent:

Chelsea 2 Swansea City 0
It's a stroll for Chelsea as Frank Lampard closes in on Bobby Tambling

By JACK PITT-BROOKE

After being stranded on 200 Chelsea goals for six weeks, Frank Lampard moved within one of Bobby Tambling's club record on Sunday with the second goal of a very comfortable defeat of Swansea City.
Lampard's penalty came three minutes after Oscar had put Chelsea ahead just before half-time. All it took was those two swift attacks to move the Blues back up to third place in the Premier League, one point ahead of Arsenal and three clear of Tottenham Hotspur.
In the 43 minutes before that brief burst, and the 45 after, this was an afternoon of serene strolling control for Chelsea, who dominated possession against a Swansea side not desperate to make life difficult for them.
The last time Swansea were here, nearly four months ago, they won 2-0 in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg. This game was almost the exact opposite of that, not just in the scoreline, but in terms of the gentle atmosphere and lack of tension.
Even the return of referee Mark Clattenburg to Stamford Bridge, six months after he was accused of using a racial slur – an accusation of which he was cleared – did not add any edge to proceedings. Ramires shook Clattenburg's hand before the game and he went on to referee with caution and discretion, arguably being too generous in keeping Cesar Azpilicueta and Ashley Williams on the pitch in the second half.
Rafael Benitez, though, was just pleased with another job well done, a sixth straight home league win coming in between the two legs of a Europa League semi-final with Basel.
"Always to win is good," said the Chelsea interim manager afterwards. "Two goals and a clean sheet, and at this stage of the season with so many games. To play so much good football in attack, with a combination of these players, we were really pleased."
For all of the drama and unpleasantness of this season at Chelsea, they are now well placed, with a game in hand on Arsenal and with Spurs still to come to Stamford Bridge. They are playing better than either of their London rivals and, barring a collapse, should certainly qualify for next year's Champions League.
"Maybe it will go to the last game," said Benitez. "If nothing happens difficult or special, it could be until the last game against Everton. We have to do our job, manage the squad, playing this attacking football we played in the second half with combinations; we'll be OK."
The first 40 minutes of Chelsea's display was one of steadily finding their rhythm, building up slowly before they went ahead. Eden Hazard and Juan Mata were brought in, having not started in Switzerland, and both were lively, Hazard and Demba Ba forcing Michel Vorm into early saves.
Lampard did not start but he replaced Ramires after 24 minutes and added more drive through the middle. His powerful low shot won a corner which Gary Cahill – making his first start for six weeks – headed over. The next minute, though, Lampard helped Chelsea into the lead.
He took the ball from John Terry, briskly exchanged passes with David Luiz and deftly touched it on to Oscar on the edge of the box. In too much space, the Brazilian struck the ball into the far bottom corner.
The move was worthy of a goal and so was the next one, three minutes later, in first-half added time. Mata, awarded Chelsea's Player of the Season honour before kick-off, played the ball to Hazard, went for the return pass and was tripped by Leon Britton. Clattenburg awarded the penalty, Lampard took it and found his favourite corner.
Lampard now has, presuming Chelsea are not beaten on Thursday, six games in May to catch or beat Tambling's record. Tambling was cheered onto the pitch yesterday as the half-time guest and Lampard said last night he was an inspiration in his push for the target.
"Bobby is an absolute gentleman," said the veteran midfielder. "I'm glad he was healthy enough to be here and it was nice to see him. There could not be more of a gentleman to hold that record. It would have been great to [match the record] in front of him but it doesn't work that way."
Lampard is hopeful that he will make history again before the season is out. "I try for it not to be on my mind because people are talking about it. If I am confident and playing regularly and training hard the goals will come."
The Swansea manager Michael Laudrup, who knows a fair bit about playing at the top level, recognised Lampard's threat throughout. "Quality is always quality, when you have it you will always have it," he said. "We all get older, but he's coming into the box, as he has always done, causing problems."
Lampard and Chelsea did not need to do too much in the second half. Ba had three shots saved by Vorm but had Chelsea desperately needed a third they probably would have scored it. Swansea nearly made one or two chances, with Terry not looking quite sharp enough at the heart of the home defence for the England recall he is keen on.
Laudrup had to admit that his team, without a league win in six, have lost some sharpness.
"It is not the first time I have said it, but the last pass, the last finish, has to be with a little bit more quality," he said. "What is incredible is that after the last month and a half without a win, we're still ninth."


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Guardian:

Frank Lampard one goal away from Chelsea record after win over Swansea

Dominic Fifield at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea had paraded their record goalscorer during the interval here, an emotional Bobby Tambling accepting the rapturous reception from all sides as, wheelchair bound after four months in hospital, he sat in front of the Shed End and soaked up the applause through his tears. The locals revelled in his presence even if, by the final whistle, it was this club's present day talisman who was drawing the acclaim, with Frank Lampard now one goal shy of equalling Tambling's tally as time ticks down on his own career in these parts.
The midfielder will be aware opportunities are running out, and there had been a flash of relief in his celebration deep into first-half stoppage time as the net bulged from goal No201 in Chelsea colours. It had been six weeks since he registered his double-century, an untimely seven-match barren spell amid all the squad rotation and clamour for the 34-year-old to be offered a contract extension, but the goals have returned. The penalty dispatched low into the corner beyond Michel Vorm secured this victory but it had been Lampard's introduction as a substitute that had sparked the win.
It was his dispossession of Jonathan de Guzman and dart into enemy territory to force Vorm into a save at full-stretch that had shrugged the home side out of their lethargy. His slipped pass to Oscar, three minutes later, provided the opening goal, and it was his assured finish from the spot that settled affairs to thrust the home side a point clear of Arsenal and three of Tottenham Hotspur in the race for Champions League qualification. Lampard may not be around next season to enjoy that, but he will have played his part in making it happen. "He's a great player, a great professional," said Rafael Benítez. "He wants to play but he understands the priorities and the club comes first."
There is still time – potentially six games – to equal and eclipse Tambling's 43-year record, though the latter stages here were played out with the home support bellowing for the midfielder to do so in the holder's presence. There was a heavy touch when liberated by Juan Mata's clever flick 10 minutes from time, and a volley from the Spaniard's corner that was blocked in a cluttered penalty area, but a clear chance alluded him. Lampard will have to wait.
He shared a joke with Tambling in the home dressing room in the aftermath, the pair having spoken on the telephone last week after the 71-year-old departed hospital in Cork where he had been suffering from pneumonia and Martorelli's Ulcer, a painful disease involving leg ulcerations.
"Bobby is an absolute gentleman and I'm glad he was healthy enough to be here," Lampard said. "It was nice to see him. I'd have liked [the second] to come, and it would've been great to do it in front of him, but it doesn't work that way. If I'm confident and playing regularly and training hard the goals will come if I can keep my head." The older man will not begrudge surrendering his record.
Lampard had benefited from the spritely running of Mata, on his 25th birthday, and the outstanding Eden Hazard to orchestrate this victory. The Belgian was irrepressible, the Spaniard as classy and composed as ever, even if Swansea dazzled themselves at times with the trademark, slick approach play that has decorated the Premier League all season. What they lacked was precisely what Lampard supplied: a clinical final pass, such as that to send Oscar scurrying through on goal, or an accurate finish when an opportunity arrived.
"We all get older, and sometimes the pace is not the same, but quality is quality," said Michael Laudrup, who had retired himself at 34. "He's still coming into the box, as he's always done, and finding positions to cause problems. Great players don't like to run."
Praise means plenty when delivered by the Dane. He was left bemoaning the "five crazy minutes" before the break that yielded the game's decisive moments. First John Terry had collected Vorm's clearance and combined with David Luiz and then Lampard, the England midfielder eventually clipping Oscar free to score across Vorm into the far corner. That was his 11th goal of the campaign, with Leon Britton's tangle with Mata as the midfielder wriggled into the area duly supplying a second. Mark Clattenburg, initially booed on his return to officiate at this club for the first time since the racism storm that erupted in October, spotted the offence in what was a low-profile display. Ashley Williams might have been dismissed for two bookable offences, while César Azpilicueta was wild with one lunge on Ben Davies, but the referee appeared keen to remain out of the spotlight.
Swansea, for all their eagerness in possession, rarely threatened a riposte thereafter as their winless run stretched to six league games even if they continue to hover in the top half of the table. Chelsea's ambitions are loftier and, in third with a considerably better goal difference than Spurs, they have enjoyed a fruitful week. A place in the Europa League final can be secured on Thursday, with a trip to Old Trafford to follow. Lampard's chance will come.
Man of the match Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 2 Swansea City 0

By Ben Rumsby, at Stamford Bridge

Not quite a “former Blues midfielder” he was billed by  Chelsea’s own TV channel this week, Frank Lampard demonstrated his enduring importance to Chelsea after coming off the bench to inspire them to victory and move to within one goal of their all-time scoring record.
Having not scored for six weeks, the midfielder demonstrated the kind of timing that has marked his Stamford Bridge career by netting goal number 201 in front of the current chart-topper, Bobby Tambling.
The seriously ill Tambling flew to London from Ireland on Friday, two days after being released from months in hospital and he was able to celebrate Chelsea moving back up to third in the Premier League.
He will have mixed feelings about Lampard edging towards his record, for which the midfielder ironically had Mark Clattenburg to thank after the referee marked his first Chelsea match since his ‘racism’ row with John Obi Mikel by awarding a soft penalty.
Clattenburg would have hardly been expecting the red carpet to be rolled out at Stamford Bridge and, sure enough, the announcement of his name was roundly jeered before kick-off.
Equally predictable was the hero’s welcome for John Terry, starting back-to-back games for the first time since returning from injury in January.
His failure to do that until today made his desire to make himself available for England again rather perverse but he came through 90 minutes without incident.
That was more than could be said for Ramires, who duly shook the hand of the referee he had accused of racist abuse six months earlier before hobbling off injured after 24 minutes.
It had not quite happened for Chelsea until that point, Demba Ba’s long-ranger the only save Michel Vorm had to make until the arrival of Lampard.
The crowd had been baying for his introduction and it soon became clear why as they began to threaten at regular intervals.
Lampard himself brought the best out of Vorm with a trademark 20-yarder, with the resulting corner diverted just over by Gary Cahill’s towering header.
Swansea City needed half-time but it did not come quickly enough, Terry winning the ball in midfield and finding the run of Lampard, whose lay-off was perfect for Oscar to drive low across Vorm into the corner of the net.
And in the final minute of the half, Juan Mata’s one-two with Eden Hazard saw him get the wrong side of Leon Britton before going to ground under the slightest contact.
Clattenburg had no hesitation pointing to the spot and neither did Lampard, drilling the penalty into the same corner as Oscar’s opener.
The second half was set up for Lampard to equal Tamblong’s record but it became more of a personal duel between Ba and Vorm, who repeatedly thwarted the striker.
It also saw Terry’s lack of pace repeatedly exposed, Cahill sparing his captain’s blushes on more than one occasion.
And for all his decisive refereeing in the first half, Clattenburg twice took the soft option after the break, letting Cesar Azpilicueta off with a booking for a two-footed tackle and refusing to show a second yellow card to Ashley Williams for blatantly blocking off Ba.
Lampard only once went close to goal 202 but surely it is now only a matter of time.

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Mirror:

Chelsea 2-0 Swansea: Lampard and Oscar on target as Blues coast to victory

Martin Lipton

Two goals to go. Six matches, maximum, to get there.
And if Frank Lampard does finally become Chelsea's record goalscorer, surely nobody will begrudge him.
Lampard has not enjoyed his reduced status under Rafa Benitez. Like John Terry, legends want to be in the limelight, not the shadows.
But handed an early chance when Ramires limped off, the England midfielder closed to within one goal of the matching Bobby Tambling's club record 202 and, more crucially, edged the Blues nearer their top four target.
On a day that was expected to be all about Mark Clattenburg - who seemed determined to ensure this time it finished with 22 men on the park - Lampard made himself the story.
A trademark penalty, after he had set up Oscar's opener, brought the customary choruses of "Sign him up" from the Chelsea fans.
They won't, it seems. That ship has floated away, as Lampard will in the next few weeks.
The fans know it, too and it means the Stamford Bridge faithful are even more determined to make the most of their last sights of one of the club's greatest servants.
Lampard's status was only bolstered yesterday, as Chelsea looked like a team playing their 63rd match of the season.
Until Lampard replaced the stricken Ramires, the game had been ambling, Chelsea in control but lacking real intensity.
Instantly, everything changed, Lampard playing in the advanced role as David Luiz sat, giving extra stimulus and dynamism to Chelsea's play.
Only a terrific save, down low to his right, by Michel Vorm had denied Lampard five minutes before the break, after he had won the ball from Jonathan De Guzman on the half-way line and surged 30 yards.
Gary Cahill should have buried the resulting Eden Hazard corner but before the interval Chelsea were two up - and Lampard within one of Tambling's mark.
The opener saw the old guard link up to supply the new, skipper Terry - making back to back starts for only the second time since September - claiming the ball and then feeding Lampard.
This time Lampard saw the wider picture, teasing through to Oscar, who smashed an instant cross-shot into the far bottom corner from the right side.
A terrific goal and, swiftly, one became two, Clattenburg in the right place - as he was all afternoon - to spot Leon Britton clipping Juan Mata's heels.
No prizes for guessing who would take it, fewer for working out where it finished, thrashed home by the man who turns 35 this summer.
Tambling's appearance on the pitch at half-time - in a wheelchair after spending the last four months in hospital in Ireland - only served to increase the desperation for Lampard to add to his tally.
At times, it seemed certain another would come. Ashley Williams got in the way of a pile-driver from the England ace, while Vorm's excellent low save from Demba Ba saw the ball flash just past the on-rushing Lampard's head.
Clattenburg, making the low-key return to Stamford Bridge he needed, gave Cesar Azpilicueta a reprieve when he slid in wildly and caught Ben Davies.
The referee was equally lenient soon after when Ashley Williams, already booked, cynically brought down Ba on half-way. After leaving Chelsea with nine players on the afternoon he was falsely accused of racism, he appeared understandably keen to get this one out of the way.
Swansea's best opening saw Cech save from De Guzman but for all their clever approach play, there was no real thrust. That probably comes when a season can be seen as Mission Accomplished by February 24.
Chelsea could have made the margin greater. Hazard's run and cross from the left picked out Mata, whose first touch took him slightly wide before he dragged back and off target from 14 yards.
Mata then went for goal with Lampard screaming for the opportunity to convert.
It was, still, a great weekend for Lampard and Chelsea. They have their destiny in their own hands. The midfielder has Blues immortality in reach.

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Mail:

Chelsea 2 Swansea 0: Lampard nears Tambling record as Blues boost Champions League chances

By Matt Barlow

Frank Lampard’s pursuit of the all-time Chelsea goal record may have lost some momentum but it certainly retains a sense of occasion.
Having scored his 200th for the Blues against his former club West Ham last month, he produced No 201 in the presence of Bobby Tambling.
Tambling’s record of 202 is in his sights, even if it had started to fade as the games dwindled and Lampard moved into the final weeks of his contract, no longer certain of his place in the team.
Against Swansea, another former club who he represented on loan as a teenager, Lampard was on the bench for the first 25 minutes until Ramires limped off with a thigh injury.
He came on to a standing ovation and, by half-time, had set up the first for Oscar and scored a penalty, a spot-kick willed into the net by 40,000 Chelsea supporters. In the stands, Tambling looked on with pride.
At half-time, the 71-year-old was on the pitch to salute the crowd and after the final whistle he was in the home dressing room congratulating Lampard.
He was in a wheelchair and he looked frail but his health has improved. Tambling lives in Ireland and has been suffering from  Martorell’s ulcer, a painful leg condition, and pneumonia. He has been confined to a hospital bed for three months.
‘I’m glad he was healthy enough to be here,’ said Lampard. ‘It was nice to see him. He’s an absolute gentleman. There couldn’t be more of a gentleman to hold that record.’ Kerry Dixon was at the game, too. Lampard sped past Dixon’s Chelsea total of 193 goals in January. Between the three strikers, they have nearly 600 goals for the club.
Unless a new contract appears out of the blue, Lampard has a maximum of six games left to equal Tambling. Manager Rafael Benitez is sure he will get there. Chelsea fans are less sure. They were urging it to happen yesterday.
The collective desire was clear when Juan Mata chipped a pass on to Lampard’s chest. For a split second a shooting chance seemed possible, but the ball skipped away. Then he connected sweetly on the half-volley with a corner taken by Mata but it was blocked.
‘It would have been great to do it in front of Bobby but it doesn’t work that way,’ said Lampard. ‘I try to keep it from my mind because people are talking about it but if I’m confident, playing regularly and training hard, and if I can keep my head, the goals will come.’
Michael Laudrup paid his own tribute to Lampard’s career. ‘Quality is quality and it will always be,’ said the Swansea manager. ‘The thing is, even if we don’t want to admit it, we all get older.
‘Sometimes the pace is not the same and you can’t do exactly the same things, but the quality is there. He’s coming into the box as he’s always done in that second position and causes problems.’
Laudrup was more concerned with a sixth game without a win and ‘five crazy minutes’ before half-time. Until that point, the game had been subdued and uneventful.
Chelsea dominated territorially and the visitors threatened on the break. But when John Terry won the ball from Jonathan de Guzman on the halfway line, he seized on the disarray in the Swansea defence. Terry found Lampard and he stabbed a first-time pass to Oscar, who fizzed a splendid low shot past Vorm from the edge of the box.
Lampard converted his penalty in the second minute of stoppage time after a wonderful combination of intricate passes between Mata and Eden Hazard drew a foul on Mata by Leon Britton. It was Chelsea’s 18th penalty of the season.
Hazard, scourge of Swansea ball-boys, was exceptional yesterday. ‘He kicks who he wants,’ sang Chelsea fans. The £32million winger is truly starting to blossom as the season ends.
It wasn’t quite all about Lampard. This was a big day, too, for referee Mark Clattenburg, back at Stamford Bridge for the first time since he was accused and later cleared of aiming a racist insult at John Mikel Obi last year.
Clattenburg, jeered before kick-off, played it low-key. There was no argument with his penalty decision but he showed leniency when he might have issued red cards to Ashley Williams and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Williams had already been booked when he was turned by Demba Ba and pulled him back. ‘I was not happy,’ said Benitez, but Azpilicueta escaped with a caution for a late challenge on Ben Davies.
It was also a day when Chelsea climbed back into the top three in a weekend when Tottenham and Arsenal could only draw.
Mostly, however, this was about Lampard. It was his first goal for six weeks and one step closer to his place in history.

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Sun:

IT was a very good day for Chelsea yesterday.

Mark Irwin

No one was bitten, no ball-boys were kicked and the ref wasn’t accused of racism.
No handshakes were refused and even the manager wasn’t abused.
Oh, and Frank Lampard moved to within one goal of the club’s all-time scoring record just 24 hours after being written off as a former Chelsea player by the club’s own TV station.
And all of this in front of 71-year-old Bobby Tambling, a genuine former player whose 202-goal landmark is about to fall to one of the true greats of the modern game.
Six weeks after scoring his last goal against West Ham, it was beginning to look as though Lampard might just run out of time to overhaul Tambling.
His prospects of returning to the scoresheet did not look too clever when he was named among the subs as part of Rafa Benitez’s strict rotation policy. But he was handed an unexpectedly early call to action when Ramires had to come off after stretching to make a 24th-minute block.
And when ref Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot after Juan Mata had been tripped by Leon Britton, there was only ever going to be one outcome.
Step forward Lampard to dispatch his low penalty beyond Michel Vorm and spark the inevitable chants of ‘Sign him up’ from the Stamford Bridge faithful.
The midfielder, 34, had already set Chelsea on their way to three precious points when his precise through ball teed up Oscar to fire the Blues into a 43rd-minute lead.
And he almost drew level with guest of honour Tambling 10 minutes from the final whistle when he burst into the box to chest down Mata’s chip but had the ball snatched off his feet by keeper Vorm. Still, the record can wait for another day.
For if Chelsea beat Basel in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday, they will have six more games left in this marathon season.
And even if Lampard does not start in every one of them, the smart money now has to be on him making it to 203.
With top-four rivals Spurs and Arsenal both dropping points, this was a huge step towards Chelsea achieving their Champions League ambitions. No wonder supporters have given up on booing Benitez.
They might never accept the Spaniard as their boss but at least they are tolerating him for now.
Considering the almost impossible schedule which Benitez has had to cope with, he is doing a remarkable job wringing performance after performance from his weary stars. And no one has had to cope with a greater workload than playmaker Mata, celebrating his 25th birthday yesterday with another mesmerising display.
In his two seasons at Chelsea, the little Spanish international has now played an incredible 123 games for club and country. At a time of so much uncertainty at the Bridge, the only constant has been Mata’s consistent brilliance. Just how he keeps going is anyone’s guess but it probably helps that he now has Oscar and Eden Hazard to share some of the creative workload.
Hazard has moved up to another level in recent weeks, ripping opponents apart with his movement, skill and awareness.
Three months ago he was being vilified for kicking out at a Swansea ballboy during his team’s Capital One Cup defeat at the Liberty Stadium.
But now he is rightly regarded as one of the stand-out stars of the Premier League.
Just as this match was a redemption for Hazard, so it was to prove a fresh start for ref Clattenburg.
Six months to the day after Chelsea accused him of making a racist comment to John Obi Mikel, Clattenburg made his first return to the Bridge.
The FIFA-appointed official had plenty of cause to feel aggrieved at the ordeal which Chelsea had put him through. Yet he showed no sign of bearing a grudge as he shook hands with all and sundry before the game while ignoring the pre-match jeers from the Matthew Harding Stand.
He could easily have shown a straight red card to Cesar Azpilicueta for a horrible challenge on Ben Davies but settled for a yellow.
And he resisted the temptation to issue a second booking to Ashley Williams when he hauled down Demba Ba.
But that was as good as it got for a Swansea team who have now won just one game in seven since lifting the Capital One Cup.
They hardly had a shot on goal as Chelsea were handed an unnecessarily easy stroll back into the top three.

DREAM TEAM STAR MAN — FRANK LAMPARD

CHELSEA: Cech 6, Azpilicueta 5, Cahill 6, Terry 6, Cole 6, Luiz 6, Ramires 2 (Lampard 8), Oscar 7, Mata 7, Hazard 8, Ba 6. Subs not used: Turnbull, Ivanovic, Torres, Mikel, Benayoun, Bertrand. Booked: Azpilicueta.

SWANSEA: Vorm 6, Rangel 6, Chico 6, Williams 5, Davies 5 (Taylor 5), Ki 6, Britton 5 (Schechter 5), Routledge 6 (Dyer 5), De Guzman 6, Hernandez 6, Michu 6. Subs not used:Tremmel, Monk, Moore, Tiendalli. Booked: Williams, Britton, Davies.

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Star:

CHELSEA 2 - SWANSEA 0: FRANK LAMPARD IS A BOBBY DAZZLER

Tony Brown

BOBBY TAMBLING may not be Chelsea’s all-time leading scorer for much longer.
The 71-year-old travelled from Ireland to see Frank Lampard edge ever closer to his club record of 202 goals for the Blues.
Lampard needs just one more to equal that number after stepping off the bench to score a penalty which killed this game off by half-time.
By then he had already helped Chelsea go in front, setting up Oscar for the opener and Swansea never looked like staging a fightback.
Their season was effectively over when they lifted the Capital One Cup at Wembley – after disposing of the Blues in the semi-finals.
So this was sweet revenge for Chelsea, who beat them for the first time in four meetings this season and now look ever more likely to qualify for the Champions League.
This was the 63rd game of their season but they showed no signs of tiredness after last Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first-leg win in Basel. That said, John Terry looked off the pace playing in his first back-to-back games since a knee injury in November and did not exactly make the case for an England recall.
This was Swansea’s sixth game without a win – but the Chelsea juggernaut just keeps rolling on.
Blues fans belatedly sang “Sign him up” to Lampard even though it looks increasingly likely he will not be back next season. If they reach the Europa League Final, he still has six matches left to break the record.
In the end it was just nice to see Chelsea avoid any major controversies in their first game refereed by Mark Clattenburg since his race row with the club last autumn.
Rafa Benitez may have had that in mind when he left John Obi Mikel on the bench for this one, considering it was the midfielder who Clattenburg was wrongly accused of abusing. But the interim Blues boss didn’t mind starting with Eden Hazard, despite the Belgian’s infamous run-in with a ball boy at the Liberty Stadium.
Chelsea fans enjoyed some fun with that, singing “Eden Hazard – he kicks who he wants!” several times during the second half.
None of Chelsea’s players had a problem shaking Clattenburg’s hand before kick-off and the home crowd largely ignored him.
But he seemed desperate to be as non-controversial as possible, missing a stamp by Demba Ba on Leon Britton early on.
It happened right under his nose as well but despite Ba making contact with the inside of Britton’s thigh the free-kick was somehow given the other way.
Moments later Ba tested Swans keeper Michel Vorm with a shot from the edge of the box before Chelsea suffered a setback when Ramires limped off.
Lampard quickly came on to replace him and drew the save of the first half from Vorm, robbing Jonathan de Guzman in midfield and unleashing a shot the Dutchman tipped away at full stretch.
From Hazard’s resulting corner Gary Cahill was inches too high with a flying header on his return from a knee injury.
But it was Oscar who broke the deadlock, finishing off a nice move involving Lampard and Terry by peeling away from his marker to smash home a shot into the far corner.
Britton then fouled Juan Mata in the box to give Lampard a chance to inch closer to that record from the penalty spot.
The England midfielder was not going to miss that one, slamming the ball home despite Vorm guessing the right way.
Lampard has had to wait for that goal. It was his first in eight games and he was clearly on a mission, shooting on sight in a bid to try and add to it. Cesar Azpilicueta then became the second Chelsea player lucky to escape a red card when he was only booked for a two-footed lunge at Ben Davies.
With nothing left to play for this season Swansea did not look capable of making a game of it and Vorm once again came to the rescue with another fine save to deny Ba.
Mata then missed a sitter, rolling a shot past the far post with Vorm beaten after he had done all the hard work.
Lampard did have a half-chance to hit the landmark with 10 minutes to go but he fluffed his lines, allowing Vorm to gather.

Basle 2-1

Independent:

Basel 1 Chelsea 2
David Luiz's late show finally establishes Chelsea Europa League superiority

By SAM WALLACE

Centre-half, holding midfielder and, as of tonight, you can add the title of last-minute match-winning goalscorer to David Luiz's list of strengths. He once walked a very fine line between chaos and brilliance but on nights like these the Brazilian looks like he will be an integral part of Chelsea's future.
Deep into injury-time, and having conceded an equaliser from an unjust penalty, Chelsea might have been forgiven for seeing the game out and hanging onto the draw for the home leg. But what looked like a sense of injustice drove them on to play eight minutes, including injury-time, of their best football of the game during which they ground Basle down attack by attack.
From Luiz came the winner, a free-kick drilled low past the goalkeeper Yann Sommer, and celebrated in front of a small knot of Chelsea supporters in the corner of the St-Jakob Park. Many of them boarded coaches for the long journey home after the game, unable to find any accommodation in Basle because of the large numbers attending the city's world watch fair. No complaints this time about the time added-on.
A caveat to Luiz's heroics in midfield was that he was fortunate to stay on the pitch having crunched his studs into Philipp Degen's shin in the second half. Equally, Luiz was the victim of a two-footed challenge by Aleksandar Dragovic - that was only punished with a yellow card by the Czech referee Pavel Kralovec, who had a poor game.
Where it leaves Chelsea is on the brink of the fifth European final in the club's history which, given this strange, tumultuous season of theirs, does not feel like a bad outcome. Rafa Benitez will never have the love of the Chelsea support but he might find himself parading some silverware in Amsterdam on 15 May which would make for an awkward atmosphere.
Of course, Benitez will never be forgiven if he does not deliver Chelsea Champions League football next season but as things stand, the humble old Europa League is proving a pretty agreeable distraction. Chelsea take two away goals into next Thursday's second leg at Stamford Bridge for which they are overwhelming favourites.
This was not a classic game by any means and Basle were well below par until the latter stages. In the meantime we witnessed a resilient Chelsea, a get-the-job-done Chelsea, then once the Czech referee Pavel Kralovec had given his bizarre penalty decision against Cesar Azpilicueta, for what he thought was a foul on Valentin Stocker, the away side chased down the victory in stunning fashion.
Both John Terry and the substitute Oscar might have scored in the few minutes before Luiz hit the winner with the last kick of the game. It was a reminder that Chelsea have brought Champions League quality into the Europa League and, if they play to their strengths, should win this competition.
There were frustrations again where Fernando Torres was concerned. He has been forced to play a lot of games recently, and this was another 90 minutes for him while the likes of Oscar and Juan Mata started on the bench, but even so he did not pose the threat that Chelsea need in that position. That said, he was unlucky to hit the post in the second half.
For much of the game, Basle looked like a team whose season started on 13 July. They have developed a reputation for themselves this season in making it as far as the semi-finals, and accounting for Spurs in the previous round, but in the first half they just failed to create any meaningful chances.
Chelsea were also inconsistent on the counter attack but there was no doubting their cohesion at the back. Terry, left out the side for the game at Anfield on Sunday, was re-united with Branislav Ivanovic. Also back in the side after injury was Ashley Cole for the first time since the win over Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-final on 1 April. A booking for Cole means he will be suspended for the second leg.
The home team had a lot of possession, especially in the first half, and looked much more like a side that belongs in Europe's second tier than they did over two games against Tottenham in the previous round. The Ivorian midfielder Serey Die dictates a lot of their play but is limited and the captain and centre-forward Marco Streller struggled to make an impact.
The goal Chelsea scored on 13 minutes was a soft one for Basle to concede. The home side's goalkeeper Sommer had done well to save Frank Lampard's shot on the run from Azpilicueta's cross. The subsequent corner was allowed to travel across the area where Ivanovic got a downward header that clipped Victor Moses and bounced in.
Reliable as ever, Petr Cech had to push over a short free-kick which Fabian Schar struck in the 17th minute but really that was the most that the Chelsea goalkeeper was stretched in the first half. The best of the chances fell to Chelsea on the counter-attack, especially when Eden Hazard was given a sight of goal before half-time by Moses' cut-back but failed to keep his shot on target.
Hazard had been Chelsea's best attacking threat and although he was later replaced by Mata it was from him that Chelsea's chances came before the late flurry at the end. Hazard got away down the left wing on 53 minutes and cut back for Torres whose left foot shot came back off the post.
Stocker had hit the post on 48 minutes but only in the last ten minutes of the game did Chelsea find themselves on the back foot. For all the pressure, Chelsea were coping  until Azpilicueta made an innocuous challenge on Stocker and the Czech referee pointed to the spot. Schar beat Cech easily but from that moment, the home side fell back.
Chelsea came at their opponents and created more chances in those final stages than they had in the whole game. Terry had a header from close range well saved by Sommer. Torres and Oscar both had chances to score. With Basle committing fouls around the area, Luiz seized his chance to score the winner. No team has ever followed success in the European Cup by winning Europe's secondary competition but as consolations go, it would suit Chelsea nicely.

Man of the match Luiz.
Match rating 7/10.
Referee P Kralovec (Cz Rep).
Attendance 36,000.
Second leg Thursday 2 May, Stamford Bridge.

================

Guardian:

Chelsea grateful for David Luiz's late winner at Basel in Europa League
Dominic Fifield at St Jakob-Park

They have been staging the annual clock and watch convention in Basel this week, the city's hotels crammed as visitors flood in to admire Swiss precision engineering in practice, so it was apt that Chelsea's timing was in on the banks of the Rhine. This contest was poised for the final whistle when David Luiz's free-kick scuttled through Yann Sommer's weak attempt to block and the visitors had the first-leg lead their display merited. Rafael Benítez could depart with some satisfaction, the prospect of a slog of a season yielding a trophy still alive.
The sense of deflation that pursued the Swiss from an arena where they have seemed almost unbeatable in recent times reinforced the sense that this tie is there for Chelsea to claim. The London club have never lost the home leg of a European semi-final and the Swiss have never prevailed on English soil. History is with Benítez's team, for all that they must compete next week without the suspended Ashley Cole. It may help, too, that the flurry of near-misses endured this term will guard them against complacency, but the prospect of a second successive European trophy looms large.
They warranted this success even if their profligacy, compounded by a baffling late refereeing decision, had threatened to send the teams back to England still level. Further goals should have been added to Victor Moses's early reward before, three minutes from time, the substitute Jacques Zoua headed into the area and Valentin Stocker tumbled beyond César Azpilicueta's attempt to intercept, with no discernible contact made and no appeal lodged.
Chelsea were aghast as the Czech referee pointed to the spot. "A very strange decision," said Benítez, with Fabian Schär duly thumping in the penalty and Basel's hope suddenly rising.
The Chelsea manager might have settled for a draw at that stage, fearful of his team wilting in the face of a late onslaught, but their rally in the time that remained was a reminder of their underlying qualities. Oscar, a substitute, might have scored before a trio of headers, from Branislav Ivanovic via Moses to John Terry in front of goal, culminated in Sommer mustering a remarkable point-blank save from the Blues captain.
The game was in stoppage time by then but Basel were so panicked that Stocker tripped Ramires in the seconds that remained and the resultant free-kick was too tempting for David Luiz to pass up. Fabian Frei and Stocker parted obligingly as the Brazilian strode up, the ball zipping across the turf and through the goalkeeper's feeble attempt to block.
The Brazilian's manic celebrations in front of the contingent of visiting fans, eyes wild beneath that familiar mop of hair, betrayed a smouldering sense of injustice at the penalty award.
The Brazilian might have counted himself lucky to have been involved at that stage, his studs-up follow-through on to Philipp Degen's right shin having earned him only a booking when Pavel Kralovec might have flashed red. Benítez suggested his player was merely a "little bit late" with the tackle, but Aleksander Dragovic could consider himself just as fortunate to have avoided a dismissal for an earlier two-foot lunge on David Luiz.
The defender turned central midfielder had been outstanding all night, Frank Lampard a calming presence at his side as Basel were blunted in the centre. Throw in the excellence of Cole on his return from a hamstring injury – his booking for time-wasting was exasperating – the slippery performance of Eden Hazard, and the industry and bite offered by Ramires and Moses at each end, and this was a dominant display.
The Nigerian had registered first, albeit rather fortunately, as Lampard's corner looped beyond Ivanovic, leaping among centre-halves, and struck Moses to bounce down and over Mohamed Elneny on the goalline. But Chelsea should have had more reward for their endeavours even by then. Sommer had done well at his near post to deny Lampard a 201st goal for the club, a chance created by Hazard and Azpilicueta, with the Belgian later wasteful when clean through as the interval approached.
His attempt, as Park Joo-ho slid in and Sommer charged out, had dribbled wide but his effervescent display as the team's playmaker, with Juan Mata rested, deserved better. Hazard was a blur of cute and clever passes, perfectly weighted beyond the flustered home full-backs for galloping wingers to collect.
For a while it felt as if the misses might cost the Premier League team, the memory of Basel's capabilities when they click – as demonstrated against Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-final – still fresh. Stocker's low shot which thudded against the base of a post offered a reminder of that pedigree, though each scare provoked a response. This was not to be Fernando Torres's night, the Spaniard also thumping a shot against a post from Hazard's pull-back, but he will be a threat in the return, when Basel must be expansive if they are to retrieve the tie and become the first Swiss side to reach a Uefa final.
Such progress feels unlikely. Benítez had ended Sunday's game at Anfield complaining at the award of an extra 45 seconds of stoppage time, during which Luis Suárez got Liverpool's equaliser. His team's winner here came 17 seconds before the end of the allocated added period. Chelsea, their dominance established, can dare to dream of a trip to the Amsterdam ArenA and a second final of this term.


=========================

Telegraph:

FC Basle 1 Chelsea 2

By Henry Winter, at St. Jakob-Park

In a city heaving with experts gathered for the World Watch and Jewellery Show, David Luiz caught the zeitgeist and sparkled at just the right time.
With seconds remaining, Luiz drove a free-kick through a Basle wall that helpfully stayed open late, taking Chelsea to within touching distance of the Europa League final in Amsterdam on May 15.
It is still hugely debatable whether Luiz should have been on the pitch, having hurtled into a bad challenge on Philipp Degen, escaping with only a yellow card while the Swiss defender was lucky to have only a bruised leg.
For all the controversy over Luiz still being involved, Chelseadeserved this win. Leading through Victor Moses’ first-half goal, they were deeply unlucky to concede an equaliser three minutes from time.
Cesar Azpilicueta was somehow adjudged to have fouled Valentin Stocker, gifting Fabian Schar a penalty chance he took emphatically.
Luiz soon lent a more legitimate look to the scoreline, albeit assisted by some poor keeping from Yann Sommer, who responded to the free-kick like a cheap watch, hands all over the place. Victory was undoubtedly merited.
Chelsea had a series of good displays. John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic were excellent at the back, snuffing out Marco Strellar. Frank Lampard made clever runs and lifted in promising corners. Moses kept driving down the left, contributing that first goal somewhat unwittingly.
The matches are coming thick and fast for Chelsea so this was a huge away win. This Europa League tie was their 62nd game of a strange season for the European champions. Luiz, Terry and company returned to Gatwick in the early hours of this morning.
They host Swansea on Sunday, before the Bridge return with Basle on Thursday when they will be without Ashley Cole, who triggered a ban after being cautioned for time-wasting midway through the second half.
Chelsea have never lost a European semi-final at the Bridge. Basle have never won in England in eight attempts. Amsterdam is moving into real focus for Chelsea.
After Fenerbahce defeated Benfica 1-0 last night, there is the growing prospect of an Anglo-Turkish final with the inevitable heightened security concerns (following past tense affairs, notably in the Uefa Cup final between Arsenal and Galatasaray in Copenhagen in 2000). Benfica will expect to overturn the first-leg deficit at home but the authorities will be well aware of English-Turkish history.
Chelsea’s run-in is hardly sprinkled with opportunities to draw breath, taking in Manchester United away, Spurs at home, Aston Villa away and Everton at home, not to mention the growing likelihood of that final before the Everton game.
They took a huge step closer to Amsterdam last night. Chelsea had arrived at the neat and noisy St Jakob-Park having lost their previous two away fixtures in the Europa League but they started so positively.
Eden Hazard was beating opponents with little bursts of pace, sudden changes of direction or applying that enhanced technique, let down only by some poor finishing.
Benítez, managing in his 137th European game, had paired Lampard and Luiz in central midfield. The Englishman was heavily involved in Moses’ goal, first winning the corner.
Lampard took the corner, hoisting in a ball attacked by Ivanovic. It took a touch from Moses before eluding Mohamed Elneny on the line.
Ivanovic, thinking he had scored, jogged across to thank Lampard. Moses celebrated acrobatically his third Europa League goal on the spin. Moses is definitely one of those players who have prospered under Benítez.
Basle’s fans behind the goal kept up their drum-driven support. The players responded. Serey Die drove forward. Schar’s 25-yard free-kick was tipped over by Petr Cech.
But these were brief squalls buffeting the visitors. Chelsea were largely in control of the first half.
Touches of class occasionally spiced their play. Luiz executed a sweet step-over to whisk past Aleksandar Dragovic.
Ivanovic put in a determined, well-timed stop on Stocker. Moses, Lampard and the right-sided Ramires combined promisingly, causing jitters in the Swiss defence. Hazard shot over then missed a glorious chance as the half closed.
Fernando Torres did well to flick the ball down the left, Moses charged on and passed to Hazard, who dragged his shot wide. For such a talented player this was a bad miss.
Basle, Spurs’ shoot-out nemesis in the last round, emerged a far more powerful force in the second half. Chelsea’s defence briefly lost all shape and concentration, giving Stocker the time to place a low shot against the post.
Chelsea should have made light of Basle’s resurgence after 53 minutes. Hazard played the creator, cutting the ball back from the left to Torres, whose first-time shot cannoned against the post and out.
Basle became more adventurous, Murat Yakin sending on attacking players like Marcelo Diaz and Jacques Zoua. Basle poured forward to their most vociferous supporters. Fabian Frei shot wide. Terry then reacted superbly to clear as Zoua threatened.
Chelsea tried to take the sting out of the game, slowing matters down. Cole took it too far, according to the referee Pavel Kralovec. Cole’s booking was frustrating for Chelsea who need his experience. Basle also lost an important player when Dragovic slid in for a tackle on Torres and was booked.
Chelsea’s defence continued to stand firm. Ivanovic did brilliantly to hook clear as Stocker was close to dribbling through. Cole and Ivanovic twice cleared. Luiz then went in high on Degen, going into his opponent’s leg and into the referee’s book.
Kralovec then awarded the contentious penalty which Schar took so firmly. Oscar and Terry went close and Chelsea seemed to have run out of time. Luiz had other ideas.

=================

Mail:

Basle 1 Chelsea 2:

Luiz strikes with last kick of the game after Swiss side level with questionable penalty... but the Brazilian shouldn't have been on the pitch

By MATT BARLOW

After the phantom 45 seconds which had so angered Rafa Benitez at Liverpool, here were four minutes of added time sent to soothe the scars of Anfield. Talk about precision timing. In Switzerland, we have come to expect nothing less.

It was David Luiz who stepped up to fire a free-kick into the Basle net and give Chelsea a clear advantage in this Europa League semi-final with the very last kick of a thrilling first leg. There was no time to restart the game.

Chelsea had been leading through a first-half header from Victor Moses but were guilty of squandering chances which might have killed the tie in the manner of a German team in the Champions League.

Back came Basle, roared on by their noisy supporters, but they required a terrible decision from Czech referee Pavel Kralovec, who spotted a foul where there was none and awarded the Swiss champions an 86th-minute penalty.

Cesar Azpilicueta and Valentin Stocker jostled for a cross from the right and tumbled together as the ball whizzed by. No-one even appealed but Kralovec pointed to the penalty spot and Fabian Schar scored.

Chelsea found some spirit. Fernando Torres, Oscar and John Terry went close but we seemed set for another tale of injustice for Benitez until Luiz stepped up.

Basle might argue that the Brazilian, deployed in midfield for the first time since January, was lucky to be on the field after a bad challenge on Philipp Degen late in the game which left the Swiss rolling around in agony.

Luiz was booked. Ashley Cole was booked, too, for dithering over a throw-in, and will miss the second leg next week. Chelsea should still have the class to make it into next month’s final.

Basle have strong attacking options and will come to Stamford Bridge with nothing to lose but Benitez will set up his team to pick them off on the break. This strategy proved successful last night. Or it would have if the finishing had proved more clinical.

Chelsea still getting raw deal from refs

Chelsea must feel aggrieved as the victims of yet another poor refereeing decision.

Cesar Azpilicueta was judged to have blocked or tripped Valentin Stocker but the decision was baffling.

It was so bad that it was impossible to tell what referee Pavel Kralovec had seen to award it.

Azpilicueta had an equally dubious penalty given against him in the previous round against Rubin Kazan and Chelsea must be hoping for better fortune with the officials in the return leg.

Basle showed positive intent which set a pulsating tempo but played to Chelsea’s speed on the break. This helped them take the lead after 12 minutes.

Azpilicueta stormed down the right and swung the ball over to Frank Lampard, who arrived at the near post with an attempt to guide the ball past goalkeeper Yann Sommer with the outside of his boot.

Sommer produced a smart save, tipping the ball wide, but the visitors went ahead from the corner. Ivanovic attacked the ball. He was unable to make solid contact but his positive run dragged two defenders with him under the flight of the ball. Moses reacted quickly behind this pack of players to head the chance into the net. Ivanovic thought it was his goal and ran off to celebrate but it was rightly credited to Moses, who performed a handspring of delight. It was his ninth of the season and he has found the target in the last three Europa League games.

Basle hit back. Petr Cech made a fine save to push over a fierce free-kick by Schar. The Chelsea keeper also denied Mohamed Elneny, while Stocker flashed a shot into the side-netting.

The Swiss sought angles for passes around the box but Chelsea’s defence held out and sprang a series of counter-attacks.

Torres saw one shot blocked by Schar, another saved and then miscued an ambitious overhead kick. Sommer made an excellent save from Ramires after Lampard kept alive a low cross by Moses. The best chance of this spell dropped to Eden Hazard. Torres released Moses with a clever flick and the left-winger slid a pass square. Hazard’s first touch was not perfect and forced him to stab at a shot, which he pulled wide.

As Benitez paced to the dressing room at half-time he must have wondered if his team would live to regret these missed opportunities. The thought may have recurred when the woodwork started to  rattle after the break.

First Stocker cut inside from the left and pulled a low shot against the foot of the post. Cech could only stand and watch, then breathe a sigh of relief as the ball bounced clear. Moments later, Torres thumped a left-footer on to the post at the other end after good work from Hazard.

Juan Mata was sent on to add polish in front of goal but the game acquired a nasty streak. There was a flurry of bookings and an ill- tempered finish. Basle’s stylish young centre half Aleksandar Dragovic was booked and he will miss the return.

Cech protected his goal brilliantly, helped by some thou-shall-not-pass defending which issued reminders of last season’s  European triumph in Munich. They could do little about the penalty.

Schar sent Cech the wrong way from the spot but up popped Luiz to condemn Basle to their first home defeat of a European campaign which started in July.

As for Chelsea, after their own long and twisting season which has now included 62 games, there is the promise of one more — another European final, this time in the Dutch capital.

Well I’ll be Amsterdammed.

==============

Mirror:

FC Basel 1-2 Chelsea: Late Luiz free-kick puts Blues on brink of Europa League final
From Martin Lipton in Basel

In the end, from the final kick of the night, Chelsea got what they deserved.
David Luiz' free-kick, through the Basel wall and the grasp of keeper Yann Sommer, left the watching Roger Federer with something else to groan about as a ball hit the net in front of him.
On a night when the Bluesrediscovered some of their old virtues - desire, determination and resolve - it still needed a modicum of fortune as Luiz arrowed through a gap that should not have been there.
There could be no complaints from the home fans inside a fervent St Jakob Park that their heroes were beaten in the first leg of this Europa League semi-final - even if they had been baying for Luiz's blood moments beforehand, following a studs-up lunge.
After all, Basel had been handed a way back into the tie courtesy of one of the worst refereeing decisions you will see in Europe this season, just at the moment they looked to have run out of ideas.
Quite how Czech whistler Pavel Kralovec deemed Valentin Stocker's tumble in the mere vicinity of Cesar Azpilicueta was a penalty defied belief.
Even the Basel wideman did not appeal.

But Luiz's strike means that, assuming there is no outbreak of spontaneous defensive combustion at the Bridge next week, destiny calls for Rafa Benitez in Amsterdam.
Surely, now, he will have the chance to add the Europa League to his CV with more silverware, even if the majority of Chelsea fans will expunge the manager's name from their memory banks.
And while those Blues fans cannot see any good in the Spaniard, some of them might, just might, acknowledge that he has to take the credit for bringing the best out of Hazard and transforming Luiz's reputation as well.
Here, until Kralovec's late intervention appeared set to have stolen victory from the Blues, it was a classic away European performance - the sort Benitez's Liverpool were so adept at.
Basel may have hustled and harried Spurs out of this competition when they kept their nerve from 12 yards in the previous round, but Chelsea were always far more convincing here.
A goal up inside 12 minutes, when Victor Moses got the last touch after the recalled Frank Lampard had picked out Branislav Ivanovic from a right-wing corner, this could have been done and dusted inside an hour.



With Luiz patrolling in front of the back four, Hazard wandering wherever he wanted and the restored John Terry and Ivanovic a buttress, Chelsea were dominant.
Lampard, found by Azpilicueta's near-post delivery, was foiled at close range, Ramires, teased in by the England veteran after great work by Moses, denied by Sommer.
And in the last minute of the first half, the sole moment of weakness by Hazard, dragging wide of the gaping target after being set free by Moses.
Even when dangerman Valentin Stocker rolled against the outside of Per Cech's goal soon after the restart - Luiz was reluctant to make a challenge from behind - Chelsea simply rolled up their sleeves.
Centre-back Fabian Schar was reduced to blatant thuggery to try to stop the elusive Hazard, chopping him down at the knees on one occasion, before a blatant body-check failed to prevent the Belgian zipping into the box to pull back.

Sadly, Torres wasted that chance, smashing against the inside of the post from 11 yards, with the Spaniard relieved soon afterwards that the flag had been raised against Ramires before he failed to convert with the goal at his mercy.
In truth, Cech had hardly been troubled and if Chelsea grew slightly ragged towards the end, that was surely a result of their relentless fixture programme.
But three minutes from time, the shocker for Stocker - Chelsea's fury was clear and righteous - was compounded as Schar, lucky to still be on the pitch, stroked home.

Suddenly, all changed.
Torres miskicked horribly when he had to do better, Luiz went over the top on Philipp Degen - it could easily have been red, not yellow - and Sommer somehow denied Terry from a yard.
It looked, for all the world, as if Chelsea would be made to pay for their failings in front of goal, making for an anxious evening back in SW6 next Thursday.
But deep into stoppage time - notthe seven minutes of Anfield on Sunday, just the five - Stocker was deemed to have fouled Ramires.
Up stepped Luiz, the wall parted - between Stocker and Fabien Frei - and Sommer's slippery fingers gave Chelsea the victory they deserved.
A fifth European Final awaits.


==================

Sun:

SO the Spanish waiter gets one over on Basel.

Shaun Custis


There was nothing too faulty about this performance from Rafa Benitez’s men, who take a crucial lead and two away goals back to Stamford Bridge.

A dramatic last-gasp free-kick from David Luiz gave the Blues the advantage in this Europa League semi-final first-leg clash.

That was after a Victor Moses opener had been cancelled out by a controversial penalty three minutes from time.

Cesar Azpilicueta looked to have won the ball perfectly and hooked it away from Valentin Stocker yet, to the visitors’ astonishment, Czech ref Pavel Kralovec pointed to the spot.

Fabian Schar stuck it away but Chelsea, stung by what they felt was a grave injustice, had the last laugh.

It means Benitez, dubbed ‘The Fat Spanish Waiter’ by Blues fans who cannot wait to see the back of him, remains on course for a final hurrah in Amsterdam.

Having won the UEFA Cup, Champions League and European Super Cup in his managerial career, this would be another impressive addition to his CV. But the interim boss will not be around to enjoy the growing power of the Brazilian Luiz next season.

Luiz, normally a centre-back, was pressed into service in midfield where he has far more effect on the game and was always involved.

He is becoming the main man at Chelsea and is hotly tipped to take over the captaincy from John Terry.

Luiz was, though, perhaps lucky still to be on the field to fire home the winner.

He put in a nasty tackle on former Liverpool defender Philipp Degen 10 minutes from the end, which earned him a yellow card and could easily have been a red.

English clubs have learned to their cost that Basel are no mugs.

The Swiss League leaders dumped Spurs out of this competition on penalties in the quarter-finals.

And last season they rocked Manchester United, drawing at Old Trafford and beating them 2-1 at home, to send Fergie’s men crashing out of the Champions League at the group stage.

Chelsea were playing their 62nd game of a long campaign.

But Basel were not far behind, having started their European journey way back in mid-July at the Champions League qualifying stage.

It was Basel who enjoyed the early possession and worried Petr Cech with a speculative side-footer from Mohamed Elneny which had the keeper back-pedalling before it landed on the roof of the net.

But then Frank Lampard, still chasing that Blues goalscoring record, prodded out a boot to meet Azpilicueta’s cross only to be denied by keeper Yann Sommer.

It mattered not because from the resulting Lampard corner, Chelsea took the lead.

Branislav Ivanovic climbed to head it on and, though he missed it, Moses either instinctively reacted or the ball hit him.

Either way it bounced down and up into the net.

Watching in the stand was tennis great Roger Federer, a big Basel fan, who must have been as deflated as the rest of the home support who, up until then, had been making a right racket.

Basel picked themselves up and a flying tip-over from Cech kept out Schar’s 30-yard free-kick. They seemed to have a case for a penalty too as Ivanovic was beaten and, in trying to recover, clambered over Stocker who tumbled to the ground.

Was the ref making up for that one with the one he gave?

With Luiz accomplished in his defensive duties at the base of the midfield, Lampard was free to roam further forward and get Fernando Torres involved.

The Spanish striker had a couple of efforts on goal, one of which was blocked by the defence and another saved by Sommer.

Lampard then picked out Ramires, whose shot towards the bottom corner required the alert Sommer to get his right hand in the way.

But Eden Hazard, having just skied a shot over the bar, really should have made it two just before the break.

Moses got away down the left and passed to the Belgian in the middle but, after a poor first touch, Hazard scuffed past the post.

Hazard was almost made to pay for that error two minutes into the second half.

Stocker cut in from the left past Luiz, Ivanovic did not close him down and the shot struck the base of a post with Cech stood still and helpless.

If that was unlucky for Basel, Chelsea were just as unfortunate themselves.

Hazard showed real strength to ride a robust challenge by Schar and, when he cut it back, the masked Torres swung his left foot first time only to see the ball cannon back off the upright.

There was plenty going on and Marco Streller made a mess of a header at the back post from a deep corner with the Chelsea defence beaten.

Fabien Frei was not far away either with a 25-yard special, before Ashley Cole ruled himself out of the second leg by being booked for time-wasting at a throw-in.

Basel kept coming but a lack of composure in front of goal was costing them dearly.

That was until the ref generously intervened and threw them a lifeline after Azpilicueta’s supposed foul.

The St Jakob Stadium was jumping as Schar scored the penalty and at that point Basel were being roared on to get a second.

But Chelsea were angry men and Terry’s header was beaten out by Sommer.

And when Ramires was fouled, Chelsea had another chance with the last kick of the game.

Up stepped Luiz and the ball beat Sommer in the corner.

What a way to finish it.

DREAM TEAM STAR MAN - EDEN HAZARD (Chelsea)

CHELSEA: Cech 7, Azpilicueta 6, Ivanovic 8, Terry 7, A Cole 7, Ramires 7, Luiz 7, Lampard 6, Hazard 8, Moses 6, Torres 6. Subs: Mata (Hazard 71) 6, Oscar (Lampard 79) 5. Not used: Turnbull, Cahill, Bertrand, Mikel, Benayoun. Booked: Cole, Luiz, Azpilicueta.

BASEL: Somner 6, P Degen 6, Schar 7, Dragovic 7, Park 6, Elneny 5, F Frei 6, Die 6, Stocker 7, Salah 6, Streller 5. Subs: Diaz (Geoffroy 61) 5, Zoua (El-Nenny 65) 5, Degen (Salah 78) 5. Not used: Vailati, Sauro, Steinhofer, Cabral. Booked: Dragovic, Degen, Schar.

====================

Express:

FC Basle 1 - Chelsea 2: David Luiz is last minute hero

Tony Banks

It was the last kick of the game, a free kick from the edge of the penalty area which crept low into the corner of the net.
It had looked as if Chelsea had been denied victory when Fabian Schar equalised for Basle in the 87th minute with a hotly-disputed penalty after Victor Moses had put Chelsea ahead as early as the 12th minute.
Rafa Benitez’ side put up a solid, professional display as Moses’ first-half goal when the ball hit him and rebounded into the net gave them the perfect start.
The goal came from Frank Lampard’s corner and Chelsea defended that lead stoutly.
Chelsea will now be favourites to make it to their second European final in two years, in Amsterdam on May 15.
In fact, Chelsea could and should have killed off this semi-final in the first half as Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres both missed golden chances.
Benitez, of course, had been here before. He won the Uefa Cup with Valencia in 2004 and was knocked out in the semi-final of the Europa League with Liverpool by Atletico Madrid in 2010.
If that curriculum vitae, which he reckons has already been burnished by this brief spell at Chelsea, is to look really good in the future, he needed to avoid that agony again and steer Chelsea to the final – and victory there.
But first Chelsea had to overcome a Basle team unbeaten at home in the Europa League this season and deserved conquerors of Tottenham in the quarter finals.
Murat Yakin’s side are top of the Swiss league and unbeaten in eight games going into last night’s tie.
Chelsea, by stark contrast, had lost four of their last five European away games.
Benitez, as expected, rang the changes again after Sunday’s draw at Liverpool, bringing back skipper John Terry, Lampard and Moses and Ashley Cole after six games out. Torres, who had played every minute of the Europa League campaign so far, continued up front.Chelsea needed to show more solidity and strength than in recent European trips. This, after all, is their last chance of honours in this turbulent season.
Mohamed Elheny floated a cross shot just over as the Swiss side pressed from the start, but Chelsea hit back immediately.
First Lampard saw his flick turned round the post by goalkeeper Yann Sommer. But then from Lampard’s corner came the early goal Chelsea needed. Branislav Ivanovic flicked the ball on and it rebounded off Moses into the net.

==================

Star:

Basel 1-Chelsea 2: David Luiz strike saves Blues
Paul Brown

DAVID LUIZ struck with the last kick of the game to set Chelsea on course for a lads' night out in Amsterdam.
The Brazilian smashed in a 25-yard free-kick that Basel goalkeeper Yann Sommer let slip through his fingers to give Rafa Benitez's men a valuable lead to take back to Stamford Bridge.
Earlier Victor Moses had given Chelsea a lead which looked like it might be enough before a controversial penalty gave Fabian Schar the chance to equalise three minutes from the end of normal time.
For Moses, it was the third game running that he had scored in the Europa League as Chelsea attempted to reach the final in the Netherlands capital on May 15.
Moses scored in both legs of the previous round against the Russians of Rubin Kazan and took his tally to nine for the season with a first-half strike here.
Fernando Torres also hit the woodwork for Chelsea, who were hoping to bounce back after conceding that late equaliser at Liverpool on Sunday.
After watching Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund tearing the Champions League apart this week, Chelsea must have been relieved not to be facing a team from Germany.
The bad news for them was that Basel is right on the border with club football's new powerhouse nation, and has proved a graveyard for English sides in recent years.
Manchester United lost here in the Champions League in 2011 and Tottenham went down on penalties in the last round of this competition.
For Chelsea it must feel like a consolation prize, though. Twelve months ago the Blues were on their way to pocketing European football's biggest piece of silverware on a famous night in Munich.
Still, a trophy is a trophy and this is the only one left to Benitez and co this season.
There were recalls for John Terry and Frank Lampard, as well as Ashley Cole, who started his first match since April Fool's Day.
Oscar and Juan Mata were rested but sat on the bench just in case.
No-one could accuse Branislav Ivanovic of being once bitten, twice shy either, because the Serb kept his place at the heart of the back four after the ugly events at Anfield involving Luis Suarez.
Basel boss Murat Yakin had teased Ivanovic in the build-up to the game, joking tastelessly that he hoped the defender had not caught rabies.
Ivanovic was inches away from putting Chelsea in front, though. Frank Lampard won a corner by forcing a near-post save out of Sommer.
He floated the dead ball into the danger area and, though it brushed Ivanovic's head it was Moses who got the final touch to give the Blues a priceless away goal.
Basel responded quickly, with Petr Cech only just managing to tip over a fierce 25-yard drive from Schar.
But Chelsea looked dangerous going forward and Sommer made an even better save from Ramires moments later.
Fernando Torres and Eden Hazard both wasted decent opportunities before the end of the first half as well.
The Swiss champions had their moments.
But Ramires was everywhere for Chelsea, making interceptions, crunching into tackles, driving forward.
Basel scored twice in each leg against Spurs in the last round, showing plenty of pace, flair and invention. But they rarely threatened in the opening stages here.
Maybe nerves played a part. Basel had never reached a European final and everyone here was billing this as the biggest match in their history.
Chelsea survived a major scare at the start of the second half though as the home side came out with all guns blazing.
Valentin Stocker - the star of their games against Tottenham - cut inside makeshift midfielder Luiz and hit a shot which left Cech rooted to the spot as it hit the post.
But then it was Chelsea's turn to hit the woodwork. Hazard wriggled free on the left with a lovely piece of skill and cut the ball back into the danger zone.
Torres had time to take aim, and has been on fire at times in this competition - but his shot cannoned off the inside of the post and away to safety, Basel looked a different side in the second half, but Ivanovic was on hand to clear when it looked like their towering striker Marco Streller might break through.
Streller had another chance soon afterwards when Cech uncharacteristically flapped at a corner, but he could not quite direct his far-post header on target.
But as Chelsea tired Cesar Azpilicueta was penalised harshly for a challenge on Stocker and Schar rammed home the penalty.
It looked like the Swiss had salvaged a draw, but four minutes into injury time up stepped Luiz to sink them.

Liverpool 2-2

Independent:

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 2
Dependency on villains cripples Brendan Rodgers' aim

By IAN HERBERT

The really dangerous part of all this is the Luis Suarez dependency around here. It was Graeme Souness who observed tonight that Liverpool are “not blessed with a lot of world class players at this time” and the game which kept Chelsea's pursuit of a top four place in their own destiny, despite the concession of the late goal, bore that out.
There was nothing much more engaging than the choreography of Rafael Benitez's return, in the first half. The Kop waited fewer than two minutes to issue their first chant for him and it was unfortunate that a diplomatic, though notably less vocal, song for Rodgers was drowned out by the boos for Fernando Torres, the pantomime villain whose 'welcome to Anfield' encounter with Jamie Carragher was engaging. No-one could blame Liverpool's faithful for some sentimentality about Benitez since Ramires, Juan Mata and Oscar delivered a level of invention and pace entirely absent in the home side's over–elaborate system, which in the first half lacked any incision. Chelsea were worth their lead, attributable to Carragher allowing Oscar, the smallest man on the pitch, to pivot and head in from a corner - peeling away to the right edge of the penalty area before the defender could react, with no defender on the post to block the ball.
The extraordinary immediacy of Daniel Sturridge's impact, arriving in place of the ineffectual Phillippe Coutinho after half time, made a mockery of the prettified first half precision play, though the 23-year-old's place on the bench was actually a consequence of his own struggle to make inroads since his dynamic start to his Liverpool career in January. Sturridge had already bombed in from the right to send in Steven Gerrard against Petr Cech – the goalkeeper saved smartly with his foot – and spun away from Eden Hazard to strike a 30-yard shot against the post – before he seized on a beautiful one-touch Suarez lay-off to equalise.
Even then, the saint and sinner were there in the Uruguayan, who closed his eyes, raised a hand and conceded the penalty which Hazard converted, right-footed, to put Chelsea back ahead. For Rodgers, the only encouragement to take from another sorry afternoon was Sturridge's continual presence as a force. He deftly flicked back a ball which Jordan Henderson – for whom this was a fairly wretched afternoon – sent on for substitute Jonjo Shelvey to graze a post with. A criminal waste. It was also Sturridge who provided the well measured cross which Suarez headed in for the equaliser at the death.
Both goalscorers were the subject of controversy. Sturridge might have been dismissed for going in over the ball on Ryan Bertrand in a second half which grew increasingly ill-tempered. Rodgers was unhappy about Torres leading with his arm into a challenge on Carragher, in which he caught him in the face.
The game's footballing messages struggled to be heard.
But the overwhelming impression was how far these sides have fallen since Benitez waged battle with Jose Mourinho from the home dugout here.

Liverpool: REINA 6, JOHNSON 7, CARRAGHER 6, AGGER 6, ENRIQUE 6, GERRARD 6, HENDERSON 5, LUCAS 6, COUTINHO 5, SUAREZ 0, DOWNING 5

Chelsea: CECH 8, BERTRAND 6, IVANOVIC 6, LUIZ 5, AZPILICUETA 6, OSCAR 7, RAMIRES 7, MATA 8, MIKEL 6, HAZARD 6, TORRES 6

Goals. Liverpool: Sturridge 52, Suarez 90. Chelsea: Oscar 26, Hazard pen 57.
Substitutions: Liverpool Sturridge 8 (Coutinho, HT), Shelvey (Downing, 80). Chelsea Benayoun (Hazard, 78), Moses (Oscar, 83), Lampard (Mata, 90).
Bookings: Liverpool Carrager, Henderson, Shelvey, Lucas, Suarez. Chelsea Azpilicueta, Torres.

Man of the match Sturridge.

Match rating 6/10.
Possession: Liverpool 50%. Chelsea 50%.
Attempts on target: Liverpool 12. Chelsea 6.
Referee K Friend (Leicestershire).
Attendance 45,009.

===============

Guardian:

Luis Suárez is both villain and hero as Liverpool draw with Chelsea

Andy Hunter at Anfield

The only Luis Suárez bite that concerned Rafael Benítez at Anfield was the 97th‑minute equaliser that weakened Chelsea's place in the top four. Branislav Ivanovic's arm will recover from the Liverpool striker's shocking act of savagery but the damage to Chelsea, and Benítez's reputation, will be lasting should two dropped points on Merseyside ultimately derail their Champions League status.
If there was an inevitability to Benítez swerving controversy on his return to Liverpool for the first time since his departure in June 2010, and the interim Chelsea manager was more preoccupied with time than teeth in his post-match press briefing, then the same was true of Suárez's final contribution.
The fourth official had signalled for a minimum of six minutes of added time and the clock showed 34 seconds more when Suárez headed Daniel Sturridge's superb cross in off Petr Cech. Benítez was incandescent in his old technical area. Brendan Rodgers' team had made enough chances in a vastly improved second half display to merit the point but arguably Sturridge and certainly Suárez should not have been on the pitch to conjure the late reprieve. Sturridge, whose half-time introduction transformed Liverpool's afternoon, escaped without even a booking for leaving his foot in on Ryan Bertrand. And Suárez? Well, where to begin?
Suárez's last act of the game may well prove his last act of the season, perhaps his last in a Liverpool shirt, once the Football Association review the astonishing 66th‑minute chomp that deepened the stain on his reputation. His final game for Ajax resulted in a seven-match suspension for biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal in 2010 and his Liverpool season will be over should another lengthy ban follow the repeat on the Chelsea defender.
For Benítez, however, it was the failure to reclaim third place that hurt most. "It was an emotional return, I was pleased with the reception of the [Liverpool] fans but disappointed with the late goal we conceded, especially because I cannot understand six minutes and 45 seconds [of added time]. The game was over, we had it won and it was a throw-in for us. It is difficult to explain."
The Chelsea manager insisted he did not see the Suárez incident but did predict a top-four finish. "If you are in control that means you have a great advantage and that is not the case," he said. "But we have a very good team and I believe we can do it. I am confident."
And to think this hugely contentious game opened amid great respect. Benítez's name was sang throughout by the Kop but he was not the only subject of tribute. Anne Williams, the inspirational Hillsborough campaigner who died on Thursday, three days after defying doctor's orders to attend the 24th memorial service, and the victims of the Boston marathon bombing were honoured with a minute's ovation before kick-off.
There were predictable jeers for Fernando Torres whenever the former Liverpool striker touched the ball or left his mark on their central defence. Daniel Agger landed awkwardly after a nudge from the Chelsea forward in the second minute, and was fortunate his left knee did not buckle and Jamie Carragher received a flailing arm in the face when challenging for a high ball. Torres received a yellow card and, later on, a little retribution on the back of his calf. Rodgers did himself few favours afterwards by drawing parallels with the Torres elbow and the Suárez bite.
Liverpool appeared preoccupied with the Benítez sideshow in the first half and their distribution and movement paled in comparison with Chelsea's. The midfield contest was not worthy of the name as Ramires and Mikel John Obi intercepted and protected relentlessly while Oscar, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard bypassed Liverpool with ease. Carelessness in possession, with Jordan Henderson a frequent culprit, increased Anfield's irritation.
It was a surprise Chelsea led by only one set-piece goal by the interval. Oscar sent a glancing header beyond Pepe Reina's left hand from Mata's corner, having escaped the attentions of both Agger, his initial marker, and Carragher, the defender covering the edge of the six-yard box. Reina almost compounded Liverpool's defensive brittleness when he dropped a David Luiz free-kick behind him, only to gather in front of the line.
Only when Sturridge replaced the anonymous Philippe Coutinho did Liverpool show the energy and invention to worry Chelsea. Sturridge was a man on a mission against his former club, creating a glorious chance for Steven Gerrard seconds after his introduction that Cech saved with his leg and hitting the post with a venomous drive. His goal arrived after 52 minutes when he volleyed home from close range following a flowing Liverpool move involving Carragher, Stewart Downing and finally a wonderful chip over the Chelsea defence from Suárez.
The Uruguay international's afternoon deteriorated when he handled a Mata corner inside his own area and Hazard sent Reina the wrong way from the resulting penalty. Then came his latest bite into infamy as he tussled with Ivanovic in front of the Kop goal and redemption in the form of his 30th goal of the season. It was a fleeting redemption, obviously.
Man of the match Ramires (Chelsea)

================

Telegraph:

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 2:

By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent at Anfield

Read a full match report of the Premier League game between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday April 21 2013.
It is difficult to see howLiverpool can continue to employ Luis Suárez after his latest assault on the fabric of the game, his latest trampling on the reputation of a world-renowned club. He held an opponent and then bit him.
Such an outrageous offence would defy belief except Suárez has done it before. Enough is enough. Liverpool must consider selling him.
Suarez tweeted an apology for what he described as “inexcusable behaviour” on Sunday night but whatever ban the Football Association inflicts on him for grabbing Branislav Ivanovic’s arm and sinking his teeth into him after 66 minutes here, Liverpool need to acknowledge that their best player is their greatest liability and that no player is bigger than the club.
Liverpool will survive if the shamed Suárez is sold. Daniel Sturridge can lead the line; not with such sinewy, defence-eluding effect but with a bit more decorum. Liverpool have other creative forces, such as Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling. Inevitably there will be takers for Suárez. Liverpool can use such funds for less gifted but less embarrassing reinforcements.
Brendan Rodgers talked of the importance of the club’s “ethics and values”. These were shredded when Suárez seized Ivanovic’s arm. The stunned Serb rolled up his sleeve to show the mark to referee Kevin Friend, who spoke to both players but took no action. That leaves the FA the opportunity to act.
As well as protecting the club’s “ethics and values”, Liverpool must also consider the reaction of sponsors. Do the likes of Standard Chartered and Warrior want to be represented by an individual who stirs “Cannibal” headlines.
It is deeply saddening that Suarez should so damage a day that actually showed his club at their best, that demonstrated their “ethics and values”.
Liverpool’s fans delivered an emotional salute to Anne Williams, the mother of one of the Hillsborough victims and a tireless campaigner for justice who passed away last week. They also showed their solidarity with the city of Boston in the wake of the horrific events at the marathon.
Some very wealthy, right-minded men residing in Boston, Liverpool’s principal owner John W Henry and the chairman Tom Werner, must decide Suarez’s future. Not Rodgers. This is beyond a football matter.
This is about the image of a great club. Henry and Werner will not need reminding that Suarez has transgressed before, clearly not learned, and seems to possess the flawed character to indicate he will offend again. Enough is enough.
In Holland, he bit Otman Bakkal of PSV Eindhoven, earning the headline “the Cannibal of Ajax”.
So far at Liverpool, Suarez has racially abused Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, dived to win a penalty against Stoke City, courted controversy with a handball in the build-up to a goal against Mansfield Town and now this attack on Ivanovic. Some great players have graced that Liverpool No 7 shirt. Suarez stains it. Enough is enough.
Albeit without the racism and diving, this game was almost a highlights and lowlights compilation of Suarez’s career so far, a mix of the classy and the controversial.
There was an elegant assist, a handball that gave the opposition a penalty, a totally unsavoury, unacceptable incident and then a poacher’s goal at the death, his 30th for Liverpool this season, making him the first club man to reach the mark since Fernando Torres in 2007-08.
Much of the game was surreal. Rafa Benítez was loudly, passionately welcomed by his former Liverpool fans and roundly denigrated by his current ones, those of Chelsea.
For a minute before kick-off, a smiling Benítez wandered around shaking hands with home supporters, staff, stewards and local photographers.
Having lauded the returning Benítez, the Kop then barracked Torres before focusing on chanting in support of Suarez. The Uruguayan was playing at the top of Liverpool’s 4-2-3-1 system with Jordan Henderson in the hole.
Suarez worked so hard during the first half but he needed closer support and it was little surprise to see Sturridge replacing the quiet Coutinho at the break.
Suarez had almost engineered an early goal for Liverpool, playing in Glen Johnson, who poked the ball past the advancing Petr Cech. But there was a confidence to Chelsea, a belief in their creative players.
Eden Hazard was to the fore, touching the ball to his right for Ramires to demand a strange punched save from Pepe Reina.
Chelsea were building inevitably through Hazard, Juan Mata and Oscar. When Hazard won a corner, Mata curled the ball over across the face of the Kop.
Strangely, and expensively, Lucas left the near-post and scuttled across towards Reina, gifting space that Oscar headed into. Chelsea almost extended their lead when Reina fumbled a David Luiz special but just managed to stop the ball falling over the line.
The game always contained an unpleasant undercurrent. Torres was cautioned for an elbow on Jamie Carragher, earning some more taunts from the Kop. Over the past decade, Chelsea versus Liverpool has almost become the fixture that respect forgot.
The second half was extraordinary. Sturridge acted like an adrenalin shot on Liverpool. He immediately ushered in Steven Gerrard, whose shot was saved by Cech.
Sturridge then turned 25 yards out and sent a ferocious left-footed strike against the post. Liverpool were getting closer and closer. They equalised with a lovely move, Suarez lifting the ball across to Sturridge, who scored from close range.
Suarez then took the headlines with two crazy acts and one sweet one. First he handballer Mata’s cross. Hazard had to wait two minutes for Friend to calm down tempers.
Hazard had to ignore Reina’s attempts to psyche him out. The Belgian kept his composure, looked to the right and placed the ball the other way.
Suarez then bit Ivanovic, Friend missed it and the game’s temperature rose again. Sturridge caught Bertrand with a nasty late challenge, causing a melee after Friend played on.
Fortunately, Cech played the blessed peacemaker, pulling blue-shirted players away, getting them to focus on the game. This was vital for Chelsea. They were minutes away from a huge win.
But as if the headlines did not already belong to him, Suarez totally guaranteed his place in the spotlight with a flicked header past Cech from Sturridge’s cross deep into injury time.
Benítez was furious that six minutes had been added on but there had been so many delays with subs, goals and protracted penalty-kicks.
Suarez’s goal complicates Chelsea’s pursuit of a Champions League place. It could also prove Suarez’s last touch for
Liverpool. Enough is enough.

================

Times:

Luis Suárez back in hot water over ‘biting’
Matt Hughes

Luis Suárez salvaged a point for Liverpool with a dramatic equaliser in the 97th and final minute of a compelling match at Anfield, but that is just the start of it.

The Uruguay striker also contributed an assist and conceded a penalty in a typically eventful display, but it was his bite on Branislav Ivanovic just above the elbow in the 74th minute that will be the main talking point once the dust has settled following a dramatic denouement.

And it is likely to remain so, until the FA decides whether to charge him with misconduct. As Suárez’s previous disciplinary case took several months to conclude, this sorry saga is likely to dominate the rest of the season.

Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, claimed that he had not seen the incident but said that he would review the incident before reaching a conclusion. “Until I review it, I can only talk about the football,” he said.

After the incident, Ivanovic rolled up his sleeve in an apparent attempt to show the referee a mark.

While Rafael Benitez, the Chelsea manager, also said that he had not seen the bite, the viewing public and Twitterati had already reached their judgment. In doing so they demonstrated that the reputation of a divisive character has reached a new low.

In other circumstances Suárez may have been given the benefit of the doubt, but the Uruguayan has previous, before we even get to his eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra last season. The 26-year-old was given a seven-match ban for biting Ottman Bakkal, of PSV Eindhoven, whilst playing for Ajax, which in the event proved to be his last game in the Netherlands.

Suárez may not have played his last game for Liverpool if he is successfully charged by the FA, but a guilty verdict would place the club under huge pressure.

Graeme Souness, commentating for Sky Sports, said that the club would have to consider letting him go. “Liverpool are not blessed with world-class footballers at this time, and he is genuinely a world-class player, but he’s making it very difficult for them to hold on to him,” he said.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in a football match before. That’s what children do when they are in the pram, they bite things if they are not happy with it. He must be on the borderline of doing something mad, crazy every time he goes out there if he is capable of that.”

He has proved to be a magnet for controversy since joining the club in 2011. He was banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Patrice Evra that year and was pictured aiming a punch at an opponent last month during Uruguay’s World Cup qualifying match against Chile on Tuesday.

He also attracted criticism this season after he handled the ball before scoring the winning goal against Mansfield in the FA Cup in January, while he was criticised for admitting that he dives.

The incident has already overshadowed a thoroughly entertaining game, in which Liverpool showed considerable spirit in twice coming from behind to damage Chelsea’s Champions League ambitions. The visitors had been in control for long spells, but at the end of the 61st match of a marathon campaign lost their legs.

Chelsea had offered nothing in attack, other than a speculative 25-yard shot from Ramires saved by Jose Reina, before taking the lead in the 26th minute. Liverpool’s early threat had been fading for a while, but it still came as a surprise that their defence was breached so easily.

If Chelsea scoring the opening goal was slightly startling then the circumstances surrounding its creation came as an outright shock. There was nothing unusual about Juan Mata’s deadly delivery from an in-swinging corner, but seeing Oscar beat Jamie Carragher in the air almost registered as a JFK moment.

In fairness to Carragher he was only attempting a salvage operation, with the disarray in Liverpool’s defence illustrated by the fact that Daniel Agger had allowed Oscar to run free. His triumph was down to brains rather than brawn, with the Brazilian pulling back away from Carragher before directing a flicked header to the near post for his tenth goal of the season. For a 21-year-old new to the Premier League such a return has to be judged a success despite his inconsistency, and Oscar will surely improve next season.

David Luiz came close to doubling Chelsea’s lead three minutes with the kind of swerving 30-yard free kick that is becoming his trademark. Such is his potency that Frank Lampard would not have got a look-in even if he’d been on the pitch. Luiz’s shot bounced awkwardly in front of Reina, although that fact should not entirely excuse his fumble, and the goalkeeper looked mightily relived at being able to re-gather as the ball spun towards the goal-line.

Liverpool’s immediate response was so limited – a run down the right from Stewart Downing which led to Petr Cech making a smart save from Suarez – that Rodgers felt the need to make a significant change at half time, introducing Daniel Sturridge in place of the anonymous Philippe Coutinho. The England striker with points to prove to both his current and former clubs made an immediate impact, bringing a good save from Cech with his first touch and hitting the post two minutes later before scoring a well-worked equaliser in the 52nd minute.

Sturridge’s goal was more route-one than the tika taka to which Liverpool seemingly aspire, but his finish was exquisite. Carragher’s long ball from the back was flicked on with his first touch by Downing to Suarez, whose hanging cross was as inviting as the spring sunshine which had just broken out. Sturridge still had plenty to do however, showing impressive agility to volley in at the back post.

Liverpool’s celebrations proved short-lived however, as Suarez quickly transformed from hero to villain, although not on a scale of his later misdemeanour. Mata’s 56th-minute corner was as dangerous as ever and as Suarez challenged Fernando Torres the ball clearly struck his hand, leaving referee Kevin Friend no alternative but to award a penalty. Eden Hazard was forced to wait what felt like an age on the spot while the fuss died down, but the delay did not bother him, as he showed by coolly slotting the ball past Reina will minimal run-up.

Suárez’s temperament could not be more different, as was conclusively demonstrated by his clash with Ivanovic as they challenged at a corner. The Serb was seen to roll up his sleeves and the video replays were conclusive. He was not finished however, going on to head in Sturridge’s left-foot cross, but the celebrations are unlikely to have lasted for long once the enormity of another disciplinary crisis hits home.


======================

Mail:

Liverpool 2 Chelsea 2: Shaming this proud club – Suarez is dragging Reds' name through the mud
By IAN LADYMAN

Almost a year and a half on from one of the lowest moments in the club’s history,  Liverpool are back where they started with Luis Suarez.

We did, in all honesty, think we had seen the worst of Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker. His racial  comments to Manchester United’s Patrice Evra in October 2011 plunged his club in to a crisis from which it struggled to recover.

Yesterday, we discovered we were wrong. Suarez, it transpired, had more depravity in his locker and this morning Branislav Ivanovic wears the scars on his right bicep to prove it.

It was clear something was very wrong within a second or so of Suarez tussling with the Chelsea defender in front of the Kop  midway through the second half. Immediately, the Serbian proffered his arm to referee Kevin Friend while making a clear ‘biting’ motion. Was he really suggesting Suarez had bitten him? Soon after, replays revealed the grisly truth, a truth from which Suarez can make no attempt to run this time.
In the Evra case, Suarez denied abusing his opponent. Liverpool, wisely or otherwise, defended him with all the vigour they could  muster. It was, after all, a case of one man’s word against another.

In this instance, the evidence is clear, a high-definition horror show, and although manager Brendan Rodgers endeavoured not to be drawn yesterday, he and the club’s owners in America face a decision.

Rodgers talked in terms of the club’s reputation last night.

Suarez has already chewed that up and spat it out, but if Liverpool are serious about limiting the damage they may wish to look at the way Manchester United dealt with Eric Cantona after his assault on a fan at Crystal Palace in 1995.

They pre-empted the FA by suspending him immediately. Almost 20 years on, it still looks a reasonable tactic.

Certainly in Boston the Liverpool owners will look upon this episode darkly. John W Henry was scandalized by the way his club’s reputation suffered globally last season and, as he is now dealing with the same culprit, Suarez would be  correct to worry about his future.On TV yesterday, Graeme Souness — a great icon of the club —  spoke eloquently and passionately.  Souness understands Liverpool as well as anybody and his clear  concern is understandable.

For all his gifts, Suarez is now in danger of dragging his employers’ reputation in the same direction as his own. In terms of his football, Suarez was exemplary. He often is, and the fact he created Liverpool’s first equaliser and scored the  second with the game’s penultimate kick deepened the feeling of dismay that here we have a footballer so destructively flawed.

Rodgers looked a little deflated. His team had done well to grab a point but nobody really wanted to talk about that. Second best before half-time, Liverpool trailed by a goal. Replays failed to explain who was supposed to be marking Oscar at a 27th-minute corner but nobody got close enough and his header proved too powerful for goalkeeper Pepe Reina at the near post.

Twice at the end of the half,  Suarez came close. On both occasions Petr Cech proved equal. After the break, though, Liverpool did break sweat. The introduction of Daniel Sturridge brought directness and twice within the first two minutes they came close as Steven Gerrard was denied by Cech’s boot and Sturridge by a post.

In the 52nd minute, Liverpool did score. Some goal it was, too, as Stewart Downing diverted a Glen Johnson pass into Suarez and the 26-year-old’s sumptuous first-time chip allowed Sturridge to side-foot in from seven yards without breaking stride.
Chelsea were to come again as a Suarez handball gave them a penalty converted by the impressive Eden Hazard three minutes later, and the game did get a little fractious.

Jamie Carragher became embroiled in a battle with former team-mate Fernando Torres while Sturridge seemed to leave a foot in on Ryan Bertrand.

The subsequent stoppage contributed to the six-and-a-half minutes of added time that incensed Chelsea’s boss Rafa Benitez. Right at the end, Suarez moved on to a Sturridge cross and his header found the top corner off Cech’s wrist. A day of drama now had everything but, inevitably, only part of the game will form this week’s  narrative.

On Sunday morning a newspaper interview with Suarez contained an admission that he would not expect people to vote for him in this season’s PFA and football writers’ awards.

Here at Anfield was another reason why his self-analysis may have been spot on.

Certainly an unpalatable possibility now looms.

The votes for the PFA award are in and Suarez is short-listed. If he has won, the players’ union face the embarrassing prospect of handing him his award at their gala dinner in London this Sunday.

PFA chief executive Gordon  Taylor may have some thinking to do this morning. His problems, though, pale when compared to those of Liverpool.


============================

Mirror:

Liverpool 2-2 Chelsea: Luis Suarez BITES Ivanovic and then scores 97th minute equaliser

By David Maddock

We have long realised Luis Suarez plays right on the edge... what we didn’t quite fathom though, is it’s the edge of insanity.
No amount of hand-wringing, no amount of rationalisation can explain the Liverpool striker’s motivation when he gets out on the football pitch. Quite clearly, he can not explain it himself.
All we can say is that the red mist descends all too often for this talented footballer - the demons that drive him towards the edge of perfection as a player, also drag him to the edge of destruction.
In this match, we saw all sides of a character who simply defies characterisation. There was an almost angelic poetry to his sublime play that gave Liverpool a point at the end of a game which defined drama.
But more pertinently, there was the downright demonic, in the way he didn’t just bite Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, but savaged him, with a concerted slashing of demented jaws that resembled nothing less than a pitbull attack.
Had referee Kevin Friend seen the - and the word incident simply doesn’t describe the gravity of the situation sufficiently - savaging, then presumably not only would Suarez been sent off, he would also have been muzzled.
The horror on the face of boss Brendan Rodgers, and indeed all of the shell-shocked Liverpool staff afterwards, spoke volumes about the severity of this offence. The fact that is was SO offensive means he will undoubtedly be banned for a very, very long time.
What is less quantifiable though, is the extent of the damage to a great club, and whether its reputation can survive this latest round of madness surrounding the player. Already, as tv pundit Graeme Souness suggested last night, he’s arguably cost one Liverpool manager his job. What price another?
Rodgers - sensibly - refused to take an instant position on such a serious and sensitive matter, preferring to get the full facts before passing judgment.
But it is clear the manager will ultimately be called to make the toughest call of his career so far, and at this point it is hard to see a situation where he will be able to keep Suarez at Anfield, given his charge sheet. Indeed, chief executive Ian Ayre cancelled his trip to the far East last night, to deal with such serious ramifications.
This is a player with previous don’t forget. When he signed for Liveprool he was in the middle of serving a seven match ban for biting after an unsavoury chapter in Dutch football when he took a chunk out of PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax in 2010.
A year later and it was an eight match ban for perhaps the most unsavoury chapter in English football (combined with John Terry’s disgrace) when he was given an eight match ban for racist abuse directed towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.
Even coming into this game, the Uruguary international was under investigation by FIFA after punching Chile’s Gonzalo Jara during a World Cup qualifier last month...though in mitigation the defender had grabbed Suarez’s genitals.
In truth, even a similar explanation could not excuse this latest indiscretion, and the question has to be asked, when does the circus stop at Anfield? The answer, sadly, will surely be this summer.
Sadly, because he is a genius, who has scrapped his way off the streets of Montevideo and from the clutches of untold poverty to get here, to become part of Anfield folklore, though that is no excuse of course.
It seems almost irrelevant to write about the game after Suarez’s demonic madness, and yet either side of his savage attack on 66 minutes, he took a bite out of Chelsea’s top four hopes, and showed once again that Rodgers is building a team of such promise here.
Liverpool outplayed the visitors, and deserved more than the point their striker earned in the sixth minute of injury time when Suarez cleverly nodded the ball down to sub Daniel Sturridge, raced into the box and then brilliantly converted the cross from his partner.
It was the second time the pair had provided an equaliser, because just after the break with Sturridge’s introduction for Philippe Coutinho, Suarez provided a stunning chipped pass to give the £12million sidekick the chance for an equally brilliant finish.
In between, of course, Liverpool shot themselves in the foot, though never quite as spectacularly as Suarez did. They gifted Chelsea two goals when the London club barely seemed capable of getting out of first gear.
On 19 minutes, the diminutive Oscar somehow found himself unmarked from a Mata corner and beat Reina far too easily at the near post, and even worse Suarez himself inexplicably thrust up a hand to gift Chelsea a penalty on 57 minutes which Hazard converted...though that madness paled beside the later one.
The truth was, Chelsea did little here to suggest they can finish in the top four, with Liverpool playing virtually all of the football. Yet such subtleties were lost amidst the wider carnage, and even two shocked fouls from Fernando Torres and then Sturridge which could have earned red were overshadowed. but then, this is Luis Suarez after all, and he does tend to take centre stage.

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Sun:

Steven Howard

IT should have been all about Rafa Benitez’s return to Anfield.

Or the emotional minute’s applause for Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams.

Maybe even the performance of livewire Liverpool substitute Daniel Sturridge as he ran amok against former club Chelsea.

On another day, it would certainly have been about Luis Suarez’s dramatic 97th-minute equaliser.

But, no, in the end it all came down to the latest moment of madness to afflict Liverpool’s troubled Uruguayan striker after he BIT Branislav Ivanovic’s arm.

The man already known as the Cannibal of Amsterdam after an earlier biting incident at Ajax.

What a day for Suarez to drag Liverpool’s name into the gutter.

All eyes had been on Benitez as he returned to his spiritual home for his first match since, ironically, seeing his Liverpool team beaten 2-0 by Chelsea back in May 2010.

As he emerged from the tunnel to take his place in the opposition dugout, the first strains of You’ll Never Walk Alone were heard.

It was a fitting prelude to the minute’s silence that would then follow for Anne Williams, who passed away last week.

On the Kop, those who had known Anne as both a friend and staunch, stoic ally in the long fight that would finally bring the truth into the public domain, a huge banner was unfurled.

Fittingly, it said simply but evocatively: RIP Anne, You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Just two minutes into the game and the Kop also paid its first tribute to another old friend as they broke into the time-honoured refrain of ‘Rafa, Rafael, Rafael Benitez’.

We were expecting another slow start from Chelsea as they embarked on their eighth game in 23 days. But they looked sharp, alert and fit.

So it was little surprise when the Blues took the lead in the 26th minute after some poor Liverpool marking at a corner.

Juan Mata swung the ball in, Oscar’s run lost Daniel Agger and the Brazilian beat Jamie Carragher in the air to power a header inside Pepe Reina’s left-hand post.

The Kop were stunned — as they would be again just four minutes later when a dipping David Luiz free-kick from 35 yards was fumbled by Reina before he grabbed the ball on the line.

The hosts finally had their first shot on target four minutes before the break when Petr Cech came off his line to save well after Suarez had shot powerfully. But this could not disguise just how weak Liverpool were looking in front of goal.

Brendan Rodgers had no alternative but to bring on Sturridge for the ineffective Philippe Coutinho at the break — and the reaction was immediate.

Straight from the kick-off, Sturridge skipped past a challenge from John Obi Mikel, drifted across Luiz before sending in Steven Gerrard with a glorious throughball. Only Cech’s outstretched left foot prevented the equaliser.

Sturridge, a £12million signing from Chelsea in January, seemed plugged into the mains and within 60 seconds had thundered a left-footed drive against the post.

Liverpool finally drew level in the 52nd minute — and no prizes for guessing the scorer.

Suarez dinked a lovely ball over Ivanovic after good work by Stewart Downing, and Sturridge did the rest from close in.

This should have been the moment for Liverpool to run away with it. Instead, Suarez inexplicably handled a Mata corner just five minutes later and Eden Hazard scored from the spot.

Inexplicably? Well, perhaps not, as a lot of strange stuff was obviously going through the Uruguayan’s head at this point.

Within 20 minutes he would do his Count Dracula impersonation — and the match ended as a serious footballing exercise.

Jonjo Shelvey, on for Downing, then missed an absolute sitter, driving his shot into the side-netting with five minutes to go.

It seemed it was as good as over, only for referee Kevin Friend to award SIX minutes of added time.

Incredibly, we had played 30 seconds on top of that when Sturridge crossed from the right for Suarez to nip in at the near post to head home.

The Kop exploded, their relief palpable. The after-shocks, though, will reverberate around this famous old club for considerably longer.

Anfield just might have seen the end of a firebrand footballer and stick of dynamite who has become just too hot to handle.

DREAM TEAM STAR MAN - EDEN HAZARD (Chelsea)

LIVERPOOL: Reina 5, Johnson 5, Carragher 6, Agger 6, Enrique 5, Gerrard 7, Lucas 6, Downing 7 (Shelvey 5), Henderson 6, Coutinho 5 (Sturridge 8), Suarez 0. Subs not used: Jones, Assaidi, Coates, Coady, Skrtel. Booked: Carragher, Lucas, Suarez.
CHELSEA: Cech 7, Azpilicueta 6, Ivanovic 6, Luiz 6, Bertrand 6, Ramires 7, Mikel 6, Mata 8 (Lampard 5), Oscar 7 (Moses 5), Hazard 8 (Benayoun 5), Torres 6.Subs not used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Terry, Ba. Booked: Azpilicueta, Torres.
REF: K Friend 6.

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Express:
Liverpool 2 - Chelsea 2: Suarez leaves a bitter taste

The striker’s temper was to get the better of him once again here and the dark side of his character could not be suppressed, dragging him, and more importantly Liverpool, back into the mire.
On any other day, Suarez’s last-gasp header in front of the Kop would have captured the attention as Chelsea’s momentum was checked in their chase for a top-four place. Or the sublime pass that he had earlier conjured to set up Daniel Sturridge for the first of Liverpool’s equalisers would be drooled over.
Yet this was not just any other day, but an afternoon when reputations – or what was left of them – lay in tatters.
It was the 66th minute when Suarez collected possession in the Chelsea penalty area and tried to hoodwink Branislav Ivanovic in much the same manner that has seen him outwit the Premier League’s best defences time and again.
But what followed veered dramatically from the script. Suarez was stopped in his tracks and, in his frustration, immediately grabbed the right arm of the Serbian centre-back, sinking his teeth into the flesh by the defender’s elbow as if transformed into a wild animal.
It was as reprehensible as it was outrageous, especially during a game which had been preceded by a minute’s applause for courageous Hillsborough campaigner Anne Williams.
Ivanovic fell to the turf clutching his arm, pointing to the injury and performing a chomping motion to referee Kevin Friend to convey a moment that is now set to have far-reaching repercussions for the Uruguay international.
Suarez? He sidled off to stand by a post awaiting the corner and had the temerity to cut an aggrieved figure when the referee went to speak to him.
It is inconceivable that he will not now face a lengthy suspension, though his future in English football is now on the line. This feels like one transgression too many.
The stench of his ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra still lingers and it was not even the first time he has indulged in yesterday’s antics.
When Suarez signed for Liverpool in January 2011, he was serving a seven-match ban with Ajax after biting PSV midfielder Otman Bakkal.
As for the other slight on his CV – the deliberate handball that denied Ghana reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 2010 – there was a repeat of that as well, just to complete the full repertoire of this complex centre forward, who inspires loyalty but does not deserve it.
Suarez’s sleight of hand took Juan Mata’s corner away from Fernando Torres’s head and resulted in Chelsea regaining the lead from the resultant penalty and the forward being cautioned, triggering the sense of exasperation that was to unfurl itself in the most disgusting way. When Eden Hazard coolly sent Pepe Reina the wrong way from the spot , Rafa Benitez must have envisaged that his Anfield homecoming was set to be a perfect occasion.
Making his first return to these parts since the six-year reign that saw him lift the Champions League and FA Cup ended with the sack in 2010, he heard his name not only boom out after just one minute and 47 seconds, but become a familiar refrain until Chelsea grabbed the lead.
Oscar stood in front of Daniel Agger as Juan Mata whipped in a corner with replays suggesting the defender told Reina that he had the attacker covered. But Agger did not track his run and Oscar dispatched a bullet header at the near post.
The breakthrough was no more than Chelsea’s play merited, though ultimately the showdown at home to Tottenham on May 8 now looks pivotal to their hopes of dining with Europe’s elite.
It had taken the introduction of former Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge at half-time to pep Liverpool.
Within 12 seconds of his arrival as a replacement for Coutinho, he had carved out a chance for Steven Gerrard. Within 90 seconds he had thudded a drive against the post and inside seven minutes he had restored parity.

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