Europa League - Final

Chelsea 2 (Torres 60, Ivanovic 90+2' ) Benfica 1 (Cardozo 68 penalty)

 

Branislav Ivanovic headed Chelsea to a dramatic 2-1 Europa League final victory over Benfica in stoppage time as the London side became the first club to hold Europe's two major club trophies at the same time.

A year after lifting the Champions League trophy by shocking Bayern Munich on penalties in Munich, this match proved to be every bit as thrilling as Rafael Benitez's team somehow resisted a Benfica side who had looked classier on the ball.

With the score level at 1-1 a minute into three added on after an Oscar Cardozo penalty on 68 minutes had cancelled out Fernando Torres's opening goal on 60 minutes, Ivanovic - suspended for last year's Champions League final - proved the difference between the sides.

The Serbian defender sent a towering header back across goal from Juan Mata's corner. The ball seemed to hang in the air for an eternity before nestling in the net as Benfica goalkeeper Artur could only watch the ball drop beyond him into the corner of the net. It was a heartbreaking way for Benfica to lose the match, but they ultimately paid the price for failing to score having dominated large swathes of the first period.



Full report at Eurosport

Europa League semi-final second leg

Chelsea 3 (Torres 50, Moses 52, Luiz 59) 

FC Basel 1 (Salah 45) 

(Chelsea win 5-2 on aggregate)

Benfica 3 (Gaitan 9, Cardozo 35, 66) 

Fenerbahce 1 (Kuyt pen 23)

(Benfica win 3-2 on aggregate)

 

Final :  15 May 2013

            Benfica  vs  Chelsea

            Amsterdam Arena