Chelsea are through to the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League final courtesy of a 3-1 victory over FC Basel at Stamford Bridge tonight.
The reigning Champions League winners took a 2-1 lead into the return bout after scoring a late goal at St Jakob-Park last week and despite conceding the first goal tonight, ended up with a 5-2 aggregate triumph.
Mohamed Salah, who is attracting the interest of some English clubs, levelled the tie for the Swiss champs on the stroke of half-time when he received a neat through ball from Valentin Stocker to expertly finish past Petr Cech with a first-time effort.
However, it took the Blues just five minutes of the second half to get their noses in front with Fernando Torres providing the killer blow with a well-taken sliding finish after Basel keeper Yann Sommer parried Frank Lampard's well-struck attempt.
Two minutes later and it was 2-1 on the night to Chelsea when Victor Moses, who scored in the first leg, took two goes to fire the ball past Sommer after his first effort was blocked. That preceded a stunning goal from David Luiz just prior to the hour-mark following on from his fine free-kick last Thursday.
Lampard teed the ball up for the Brazilian to hit a perfect left-footer from range, curling just inside the left upright, giving Sommer absolutely no chance whatsoever.
That was enough to send Rafael Benitez's men through to the May 15 decider in Amsterdam where they will take on Portuguese giants Benfica who beat Turkish club Fenerbahce 3-2 on aggregate.
2012/13 UEFA Europa League semi-final - second leg
Chelsea (ENG): 3 (Fernando Torres 50', Victor Moses 52', David Luiz 59') FC Basel (SUI): 1 (Mohamed Salah 45+1') *Chelsea wins 5-2 on aggregate
Stamford Bridge, London - 39,403