SoccerPunter predicted Chelsea will overcome Basel

Posted on April 26, 2013 by SoccerPunter

SoccerPunter are pleased to send another winning soccer tips to our subscribers last night. We advised our customers via SMS alert to take Chelsea +0 (Asian Handicap) for Europa League. In other words, if the match ends in a draw, it will be no win/lose outcome. However, if Chelsea won, it would in our favour and the odds were attractive at 1.95.

V. Moses gave Chelsea the lead on the 12th minutes after a good assist from Frank Lampard. Chelsea had other opportunities but failed to convert to goals.

Basel was the better team in the second half and they got an equalizer following a 87th minutes penalty from Fabian Schar. The goal from Basel was as a wake-up call for Chelsea players as they looked rejuvenated and thrive for a winning goal.

In the final minutes of injury time, Chelsea was awarded a free kick just outside Basel penalty box. David Luiz wasted no chance to fire a low shot past beyond the Basel wall and into the bottom-right corner to secure the victory for Chelsea in the first leg of Europa League semi-finals.

In the end, the only sour note for the visitors was a yellow card for Ashley Cole that rules him out of the second leg, although Basel will also be without centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic for the same reason.

Chelsea had welcomed Cole back after a three-week absence due to a hamstring injury, but their wariness was demonstrated by interim coach Benitez’s decision to deploy centre-back Luiz in a midfield holding role.

Basel eliminated Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the quarter-finals, having knocked Manchester United out of last season’s Champions League, and they served early notice of their threat when Mohammed Elneny curled a cross onto the roof of the Chelsea net.

It was Chelsea, however, who took the lead in the 12th minute, to the disappointment of watching Basel native Roger Federer.

Frank Lampard drew a smart save from Yann Sommer with a near-post volley and from the resulting corner, the England midfielder’s cross struck Moses and ricocheted into the roof of the net.

Basel responded immediately, briefly forcing the visitors onto the back foot.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech tipped a stinging Schar free-kick over the bar, while Valentin Stocker hit the outside of the post with a drilled cross from the right.

The away side finished the half strongly, though, with Sommer producing a sharp reflex save to repel Ramires’ half-volley from close range.

Eden Hazard might have doubled Chelsea’s lead shortly before half-time, but a last-ditch challenge from Park Joo-Ho put him off just as he was about to take aim at the exposed Sommer.

In the opening exchanges of the second period, both sides hit the woodwork with chances that would have greatly altered the face of the game.

First, Stocker rolled a low shot against the base of Cech’s right-hand post, before Fernando Torres saw a left-foot snap-shot crash back off an upright after a bold run down the Chelsea left from Hazard.

Basel coach Murat Yakin introduced Marcelo Diaz and Jacques Zoua from the bench, and the hosts saw Fabian Frei and then Zoua shoot narrowly wide from just outside the box.

Cech saved at the feet of Salah, but after several nervous moments in the Chelsea area, the hosts’ pressure told when Czech referee Pavel Kralovec penalised Cesar Azpilicueta for making contact with Stocker from behind.

Schar duly drilled his spot-kick down the middle, before Sommer produced a stunning point-blank save to deny John Terry, only for Luiz to strike in the fourth minute of added time to end Basel’s unbeaten home record in this season’s competition.

Benitez pronounced himself satisfied overall but irritated by the penalty for the Swiss.

“I am really pleased with the team in general – they all worked very hard,” said Benitez, who told ITV television he was bemused by the penalty award.

“We were really surprised. It’s a very very strange decision,” said Benitez.

In the other semi-final Fenerbahce hit the woodwork three times but finally thanked a 72nd-minute goal from Egemen Korkmaz for a 1-0 home leg advantage over Benfica which the Turks will now carry into their second leg in Portugal.

Korkmaz headed home powerfully from a corner at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium to give Aykut Kocaman’s hosts a wafer-thin victory as they bid to reach their first ever European final.