FC Basle 1 Chelsea 2: match report Cesar Azpilicueta was somehow adjudged to have fouled Valentin Stocker, gifting Fabian Schar a penalty chance he took emphatically. Luiz soon lent a more legitimate look to the scoreline, albeit assisted by some poor keeping from Yann Sommer, who responded to the free-kick like a cheap watch, hands all over the place. Victory was undoubtedly merited. Chelsea had a series of good displays. John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic were excellent at the back, snuffing out Marco Strellar. Frank Lampard made clever runs and lifted in promising corners. Moses kept driving down the left, contributing that first goal somewhat unwittingly. The matches are coming thick and fast for Chelsea so this was a huge away win. This Europa League tie was their 62nd game of a strange season for the European champions. Luiz, Terry and company returned to Gatwick in the early hours of this morning. They host Swansea on Sunday, before the Bridge return with Basle on Thursday when they will be without Ashley Cole, who triggered a ban after being cautioned for time-wasting midway through the second half. Chelsea have never lost a European semi-final at the Bridge. Basle have never won in England in eight attempts. Amsterdam is moving into real focus for Chelsea. After Fenerbahce defeated Benfica 1-0 last night, there is the growing prospect of an Anglo-Turkish final with the inevitable heightened security concerns (following past tense affairs, notably in the Uefa Cup final between Arsenal and Galatasaray in Copenhagen in 2000). Benfica will expect to overturn the first-leg deficit at home but the authorities will be well aware of English-Turkish history. Chelsea's run-in is hardly sprinkled with opportunities to draw breath, taking in Manchester United away, Spurs at home, Aston Villa away and Everton at home, not to mention the growing likelihood of that final before the Everton game. They took a huge step closer to Amsterdam last night. Chelsea had arrived at the neat and noisy St Jakob-Park having lost their previous two away fixtures in the Europa League but they started so positively. Eden Hazard was beating opponents with little bursts of pace, sudden changes of direction or applying that enhanced technique, let down only by some poor finishing. Benítez, managing in his 137th European game, had paired Lampard and Luiz in central midfield. The Englishman was heavily involved in Moses" goal, first winning the corner. Lampard took the corner, hoisting in a ball attacked by Ivanovic. It took a touch from Moses before eluding Mohamed Elneny on the line. Ivanovic, thinking he had scored, jogged across to thank Lampard. Moses celebrated acrobatically his third Europa League goal on the spin. Moses is definitely one of those players who have prospered under Benítez. Basle's fans behind the goal kept up their drum-driven support. The players responded. Serey Die drove forward. Schar's 25-yard free-kick was tipped over by Petr Cech. But these were brief squalls buffeting the visitors. Chelsea were largely in control of the first half. Touches of class occasionally spiced their play. Luiz executed a sweet step-over to whisk past Aleksandar Dragovic. Ivanovic put in a determined, well-timed stop on Stocker. Moses, Lampard and the right-sided Ramires combined promisingly, causing jitters in the Swiss defence. Hazard shot over then missed a glorious chance as the half closed. Fernando Torres did well to flick the ball down the left, Moses charged on and passed to Hazard, who dragged his shot wide. For such a talented player this was a bad miss. Basle, Spurs" shoot-out nemesis in the last round, emerged a far more powerful force in the second half. Chelsea's defence briefly lost all shape and concentration, giving Stocker the time to place a low shot against the post. Chelsea should have made light of Basle's resurgence after 53 minutes. Hazard played the creator, cutting the ball back from the left to Torres, whose first-time shot cannoned against the post and out. Basle became more adventurous, Murat Yakin sending on attacking players like Marcelo Diaz and Jacques Zoua. Basle poured forward to their most vociferous supporters. Fabian Frei shot wide. Terry then reacted superbly to clear as Zoua threatened. Chelsea tried to take the sting out of the game, slowing matters down. Cole took it too far, according to the referee Pavel Kralovec. Cole's booking was frustrating for Chelsea who need his experience. Basle also lost an important player when Dragovic slid in for a tackle on Torres and was booked. Chelsea's defence continued to stand firm. Ivanovic did brilliantly to hook clear as Stocker was close to dribbling through. Cole and Ivanovic twice cleared. Luiz then went in high on Degen, going into his opponent's leg and into the referee's book. Kralovec then awarded the contentious penalty which Schar took so firmly. Oscar and Terry went close and Chelsea seemed to have run out of time. Luiz had other ideas.