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2019 Chelsea Win Penalty Shoot Out To Aubameyang’s Hat Tricks
Advance To Europa League Final
15th, Eden Hazard fired Chelsea into an all-English Europa League Sets Up Final Date In Baku

May final against Arsenal with perhaps his last-ever kick at Stamford
Bridge.
The Belgian forward dispatched the decisive penalty as Chelsea
| edged out Eintracht Frankfurt 4-3 in a shoot-out that followed a 1- For The Gunners
EXAMINER 1 draw in west London. Ptrick in the Mestalla as Valencia in 2012, knows he but put the tie beyond
i e r r e - E m e r i c k
Aubameyang hit a hat-
needs to win the same title in
Valencia as he could only turn
Kepa Arrizabalaga produced two fine saves to spare Cesar
Aubameyang’s pass onto the
Baku on May 29 to seal a
Azpilicueta’s blushes, as the Blues captain missed his own spot-
outside of the post when
Arsenal eased past Valencia to
Champions League return for
IRISH kick. secure their place in the Europa Arsenal in his first season at the Arsenal’s player of the season
Kepa saved Martin Hinteregger’s penalty with his knees before
should have done so much bet-
League final.
helm.
palming away a good effort from Gonzalo Pacienca as the Blues
set up a showdown with London rivals Arsenal in Baku, Having led 3-1 from the first Valencia created the first ter.
Azerbaijan, on May 29. leg, Unai Emery’s side were chance, Laurent Koscielny He made amends with a
Ruben Loftus-Cheek’sfine goal had initially put Chelseain con- favorites to advance and got doing well to beat Rodrigo to fine finish five minutes after
trol, only for Luka Jovic to tuck away his 10th goal of the Europa the better of a back-and-forth Gameiro’s near-post cross. the restart, picking up the ball
League campaign. contest, with Aubameyang hit- Goncalo Guedes fired well in the box and wriggling free
Hazard conjured up an impetuous assist for Loftus-Cheek’s ting three to seal a 4-2 win on wide of Petr Cech’s goal when before arrowing a finish past
10th goal of the season, but Eintracht forced the game into extra the night and a 7-3 aggregate latching onto Ainsley Neto.
time – with the scores 1-1 on the night, 2-2 on aggregate and level success. Maitland-Niles’ clearance, the Valencia needed four in the
on away goals. In a week of English come- hosts attempting to start in the final 40 minutes and pulled one
SarrisnubbedGaryCahillforperhapsthefinaltime,leavingthe backs in the Champions same manner which saw them back as Gameiro bundled the
former England defender on the bench when Andreas League, Aubameyang’s goals race into a lead at the Emirates ball over the line having again
Christensen hobbled out injured. made sure Arsenal were not on Stadium. accidentally block a Rodrigo
Where Sarri could have replaced Christensen directly with the the receiving end of another. That goal would come as strike.
ever-reliable Cahill, instead he turned to full-back Davide Despite falling behind to Arsenal were caught commit- Ezequiel Garay’s long-range
Zappacosta. Kevin Gameiro’s 11th-minute ting too many men forward strike flew wide as the La Liga
That meant a full defensive reshuffle, with Azpilicueta moving effort, the Gunners rallied as and Gameiro slid in to tuck outfit sort to make the closing
into central defense. Aubameyang equalized and home Rodrigo’s cross from stages more awkward for
The already frustrated home fans had no patience left then Alexandre Lacazette struck to close range. Arsenal.
when Sarri withdrew clear man of the match Loftus-Cheek for put them ahead on the night Gameiro then accidentally Instead in committing more
Ross Barkley with extra time looming. and in control of the tie. blocked a Rodrigo strike as men forward they conceded a
The deafening boos were just the latest installment of the Gameiro, who was part of Valencia took the game to third, Aubameyang tucking
Chelsea fans voicing their catalog of frustrations with the former Emery’s Sevilla side who won their visitors. away Maitland-Niles’ cross to
Napoli manager. three successive Europa But, just as with last week’s the near-post.
Chelsea’s present talisman fed a potential future great as the League titles, continued his first leg, Arsenal hit back seem- He completed his hat-trick
Blues took control midway through the first half. Hazard’s angled fine scoring run in the compe- ingly from nowhere as with a drilled finish in the clos-
pass on the spin bisected Eintracht’s defense, but Loftus-Cheek’s tition with another – only for Aubameyang ran on to ing stages, grabbing his 29th of
run and finish matched the Belgian’s majesty. Aubameyang to add the gloss Lacazette’s header and his cool the season in the process.
Frankfurt dangerman Jovic headed straight at Kepa early on, with two more efforts. finish leveled the scores on the There was a skirmish at full-
but Chelsea dominated the opening half and fully merited Loftus- A disappointing home draw night. time, with Maitland-Niles
Cheek’s eye-catching goal. with Brighton last weekend all The equalizer took some of booked for his involvement,
The Blues were denied a penalty when Danny Da Costa but ended any hopes of a top- the wind out of the Valencia but it took little shine off a fine
barged over Loftus-Cheek after Olivier Giroud had missed four finish in the Premier sails but skipper Dani Parejo evening for Arsenal, who com-
Willian’s near-post cross. League for Arsenal. came close with a free-kick 10 fortably advance to the final
Chelsea paid for a tentative second-half start when Jovic Emery, who has not lost a minutes before the interval. with Emery again proving he is
strolled through a poorly aligned home defensive line to equalize knockout tie in this competi- Lacazette then spurned a the go-to man in the Europa
and put the tie right back in the balance. tion since he was in charge of marvelous opportunity to all League. C
The visitors had hardly stopped appealing for a penalty hand-
ball when Jovic cantered clear, with David Luiz stranded too high
out of the line and Emerson playing him on.
The arch Serbian finisher made no mistake with the easy
chance, leaving a stunned Chelsea back to square one.
The Blues’ panic had Sarri almost sent to the stands, with the
fourth official nearly losing patience with the Chelsea manager’s
touchline wandering.
And then the under-fire Stamford Bridge chief withdrew
Loftus-Cheek, the star of the show.
Azpilicueta again swerved dismissal despite a cynical handball,
with the officials simply awarding a free-kick.
Hazard and replacement Gonzalo Higuain botched a big
chance on a counter-attack to launch the added 30 minutes.
Then Sebastien Haller bungled a gilt-edged Eintracht opportu-
nity, mishitting his shot to allow Luiz a full-stretch clearance off
the line.
Zappacosta headed off the line from Haller to close the first
period of extra time.
Azpilicueta thought he had won it when bundling the ball
across the line, only for the goal to be chalked off for a foul on
Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp.
When the game slipped into the lottery of penalties, however,
Hazard saved Chelsea once again. C