Chelsea had Fernando Torres to thank for putting them into the last eight of the Europa League last night.
It is not too often that the London club have been able to rely on their Spanish striker, although he was still able to serve a reminder of his fluctuating form by missing a late penalty to settle the nerves once and for all.
Chelsea had to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit to Steaua Bucharest to progress and levelled the tie through Juan Mata after 33 minutes, only for Vlad Chiriches to score on the stroke of half-time when the hosts failed to clear a corner.
The away goal meant Chelsea needed to score twice to be included in the last-eight draw and captain John Terry headed in after 58 minutes before Torres got them over the line with a goal after 71 minutes. Torres suffered a nosebleed after scoring what was his second goal in 19 games but was given the chance to settle the tie from the spot, when Eden Hazard was brought down. Torres returned to form and missed.
Still, this was a heartening result for Chelsea ahead of a run of four games in nine days, beginning against Southampton on Easter Saturday.
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