Chelsea are in good shape heading to Kazan in the Europa League after building a two-goal lead at home in the first leg. Rubin Kazan have a bit of hope after notching a first-half away goal, but the Blues are very much in the driver’s seat after their 3-1 victory.
Chelsea vs. Rubin Kazan: Final score 3-1, Fernando Torres returns from the dead
Really, Fernando Torres!
Ian Walton
Fernando Torres scored Chelsea’s first and last goals, though he might not end up earning credit for the second one in the end. It wasn’t entirely clear if the ball touched him or a Rubin defender last, but he certainly did plenty to nudge the ball on with his rear-end. He engaged in a scuffle with a defender for a long ball by David Luiz and appeared to fall down and sit on the ball, propelling it forward and into the back of the net.
In the 32nd minute, Victor Moses doubled Chelsea’s lead. Sergey Ryzhikov did a poor job of clearing a ball away and it eventually made its way around to Torres, who squared for Moses to finish from the edge of the penalty area. Rubin pulled a goal back just before halftime, however, drawing a penalty on a John Terry handball. Natcho stepped up and converted, grabbing a valuable away goal.
Chelsea pressed for a third goal from the beginning of the second half and went close on a couple of occasions, finally finding it in the 70th minute. A quick counter led to a Juan Mata cross into the center of the box for Torres, who rose up and powered an impressive header past Ryzhikov.
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