Europa League: Chelsea win, Tottenham draw, Newcastle lose
Fernando Torres scored twice at Stamford Bridge on Thursday to help Chelsea to a 3-1 victory over Rubin Kazan in the opening leg of its Europa League quarterfinal tie.
Torres stabbed home from close range following David Luiz's clever pass before Victor Moses doubled the lead with a terrific 16-yard finish.
Bibras Natkho's penalty gave Rubin hope after John Terry had handled.
But Torres's header from Juan Mata's cross in the 70th minute leaves Chelsea well placed to advance.
The away goal gives Rubin Kazan a glimmer of hope as the Russian side will look to overturn the two-goal aggregate deficit in the return leg on April 11.
Two other English clubs were involved in Europa League action on Thursday.
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Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 FC Basel
Gareth Bale injured his ankle during Tottenham’s 2-2 stalemate with Basel in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final at White Hart Lane on Thursday.
Spurs supporters could only look on in disbelief when the Welsh international was stretchered off the field in the late going after turning his ankle.
Despite starting well, Spurs were lucky not to fall behind when Marco Streller created room for himself inside the box before firing a shot straight at the palms of Brad Friedel.
The hosts failed to learn from the early Basel threat and conceded the first goal in the 30th minute as Valentin Stocker finished easily from close range after Streller had drilled the ball against the post.
Basel doubled their lead just five minutes later when Fabian Frei was allowed enough room inside the area to head home from a corner.
However, Emmanuel Adebayor cut the deficit in half before substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson brought the home side back on level terms with a stunning shot from 25 yards out.
Tottenham tickets and Newcastle United tickets are available on 1st4 Football Tickets .com
Benfica 3-1 Newcastle United
Newcastle United’s Europa League ambitions were dealt a blow as the Magpies suffered a 3-1 defeat at Benfica.
Papiss Cisse had given the visitors the lead after 12 minutes, but strikes from Moreno Rodrigo, Rodrigo Lima and an Oscar Cardoza penalty handed the Portuguese side a strong advantage ahead of next week’s trip to St. James’ Park.
And in Thursday's final Europa League quarterfinal, Fenerbahce made the most of Ogenyi Onazi's sending off in the 48th minute as Pierre Webo's 79th-minute penalty and Dirk Kuyt's stoppage-time goal gave the Turkish club a 2-0 home victory over 10-man Lazio.
About 1st4FootballTickets.com: Thousands of football tickets are on sale on Europe's biggest football ticketing website: We have UEFA Champions League tickets available such as tickets for Bayern Munich, Real Madrid tickets and FC Barcelona ticket bookings. Last but not least we also have Champions League 2013 Final tickets available.
Torres stabbed home from close range following David Luiz's clever pass before Victor Moses doubled the lead with a terrific 16-yard finish.
Bibras Natkho's penalty gave Rubin hope after John Terry had handled.
But Torres's header from Juan Mata's cross in the 70th minute leaves Chelsea well placed to advance.
The away goal gives Rubin Kazan a glimmer of hope as the Russian side will look to overturn the two-goal aggregate deficit in the return leg on April 11.
Two other English clubs were involved in Europa League action on Thursday.
Get tickets for Chelsea FC securely online now!!
Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 FC Basel
Gareth Bale injured his ankle during Tottenham’s 2-2 stalemate with Basel in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final at White Hart Lane on Thursday.
Spurs supporters could only look on in disbelief when the Welsh international was stretchered off the field in the late going after turning his ankle.
Despite starting well, Spurs were lucky not to fall behind when Marco Streller created room for himself inside the box before firing a shot straight at the palms of Brad Friedel.
The hosts failed to learn from the early Basel threat and conceded the first goal in the 30th minute as Valentin Stocker finished easily from close range after Streller had drilled the ball against the post.
Basel doubled their lead just five minutes later when Fabian Frei was allowed enough room inside the area to head home from a corner.
However, Emmanuel Adebayor cut the deficit in half before substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson brought the home side back on level terms with a stunning shot from 25 yards out.
Tottenham tickets and Newcastle United tickets are available on 1st4 Football Tickets .com
Benfica 3-1 Newcastle United
Newcastle United’s Europa League ambitions were dealt a blow as the Magpies suffered a 3-1 defeat at Benfica.
Papiss Cisse had given the visitors the lead after 12 minutes, but strikes from Moreno Rodrigo, Rodrigo Lima and an Oscar Cardoza penalty handed the Portuguese side a strong advantage ahead of next week’s trip to St. James’ Park.
And in Thursday's final Europa League quarterfinal, Fenerbahce made the most of Ogenyi Onazi's sending off in the 48th minute as Pierre Webo's 79th-minute penalty and Dirk Kuyt's stoppage-time goal gave the Turkish club a 2-0 home victory over 10-man Lazio.
About 1st4FootballTickets.com: Thousands of football tickets are on sale on Europe's biggest football ticketing website: We have UEFA Champions League tickets available such as tickets for Bayern Munich, Real Madrid tickets and FC Barcelona ticket bookings. Last but not least we also have Champions League 2013 Final tickets available.
