Chelsea vs Eintracht Frankfurt Report – Chelsea Match Report

Chelsea set up a Europa League final date with Arsenal by beating Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties in the second leg of the semifinal tie at Stamford Bridge.

After the first leg ended in a 1-1 stalemate, the same scoreline was after for 120 minutes in London. Eventually, the sides were separated by Kepa Arrizabalaga’s saves in the shootout.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek put the home side ahead in the 28th minute of the normal time, with a coolly struck effort into the far corner. However, the night was far from comfortable for them.

Frankfurt equalised four minutes into the second half when Luka Jovic slotted his effort past Kepa after being played through by Mitaj Gacinovic. This goal came after Chelsea started being wasteful in possession.

Both teams pushed for the tie-clincher in normal time, but they weren’t separated. 

In the first half of rxtra time, the German side had two big chances fall to Sebastian Haller, but David Luiz and Davide Zappacosta blocked the respective efforts on the line to keep Chelsea in the tie.

Maurizio Sarri’s men thought they won it late when Cesar Azpilicueta after Kevin Trapp wobbled his catch from a cross. But the referee spotted a slight arm into the goalie’s chest from the Chelsea man, which was enough to give a foul.

In the shootout, the Blues captain was the first player to miss his chance and hand the advantage to the away side. But Kepa saved successive penalties from Martin Hinteregger and Goncalo Pacienica to shift things in favour of the hosts. 

Then, at last, Eden Hazard stepped up and stroked his penalty home to win the tie for Chelsea. They will now face Arsenal in an all-English Europa League final in Baku on the 29th of May.

Here’s how their fans reacted after this game: