Chelsea 2 Fenerbahce 0 (Chelsea win 3-2 on agg):THERE WERE 67 minutes on the giant scoreboards when the Chelsea support voiced their solution to the increasingly nervous performance in front of them. "Attack, Attack, Attack," came the staccato chant.
Avram Grant did not seem interested. The Chelsea manager seemed to prefer to cling to the slender advantage that Michael Ballack's early header had given his team. As Fenerbahce moved forwards, Chelsea diced with their Champions League lives.
Had Hilario, on for the injured Carlo Cudicini, not smuggled the substitute Ugur Boral's volley past his post, as Chelsea anxieties were at their height or, moments later, beaten away Kazim Kazim's rasping drive from distance, it might have been Fenerbahce eyeing a semi-final date with Liverpool.
Grant resolutely stuck with five men in his midfield in the second half, and when he withdrew Joe Cole the home crowd howled.
As it was, though, Frank Lampard belatedly cut through the tension when he tapped home from Michael Essien's cross and Grant could savour the result if not entirely the performance.
Chelsea are in the last four of Europe's elite competition for the fourth time in five years. Can Grant yet succeed where Jose Mourinho failed and plot a path beyond Liverpool and into the final?
Chelsea had started in sprightly fashion last Wednesday in Istanbul, when they tore into an early lead, only to squander it and they were straight into their stride again here. Their tempo at the outset matched the intensity of the travelling supporters, who bounced in harmony at kick-off time, and the goal that put them back in charge of the tie was not long in coming.
Ballack's sixth goal of his truncated season arrived when he darted in front of Mehmet Aurelio on the six-yard line and rose to glance Lampard's free-kick from the right into the far corner.
The clinical execution stunned Fenerbahce and Chelsea might have gone further ahead shortly afterwards. Salomon Kalou, who had the beating of Gokhan Gonul, fired a low cross from the left and Joe Cole, impishly, flicked for the near post. The ball kissed the inside of it, with Volkan Demirel beaten, and bounced away.
Cudicini was supremely untroubled in the opposite goal, yet, in making a unchallenged clearance, he pulled his hamstring and he was forced off midway through the first-half. With Petr Cech already out injured, Hilario pulled on his gloves and bounded on, to great encouragement.
A sign of Chelsea's early dominance was the sight of Alex, the Fenerbahce captain, dropping from his withdrawn attacking role into defensive midfield in search of possession. As Didier Drogba enjoyed another muscular confrontation with the Uruguayan Lugano - the Chelsea striker twice went close in the first-half - the home team looked to supply the knock-out.
Yet, slowly, Fenerbahce gained a foothold. They might only have threatened in the first-half when Lugano rose to head Alex's free-kick wastefully wide but they began to probe. Chelsea needed another goal for comfort.
There were nervy moments. Fenerbahce showed themselves to be proficient in possession, their movement slick. It would only take one moment for them.
Essien was booked for dissent to incur a suspension and Drogba went close with a free-kick, but Lampard finally smoothed Chelsea's passage.
Guardian Service
CHELSEA:Cudicini (Hilario 25), Essien, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Ballack, Makelele, Lampard, Joe Cole (Malouda 85), Drogba, Kalou (Belletti 58). Subs not used: Shevchenko, Obi, Alex, Anelka. Booked: Essien, Carvalho.
FENERBAHCE:Demirel, Gonul, Lugano, Edu Dracena, Wederson (Bilgin 89), Maldonado (Kezman 60), Aurelio, Kazim-Richards, Deivid, Alex, Senturk (Boral 75). Subs not used: Kulbilge, Cakmak, Turaci, Sahin.
Referee:Herbert Fandel (Germany).
Attendance:38,369
