Chelsea, Arsenal in Europa semifinals

LONDON, April 19

Chelsea reached the Europa League semifinals by beating Slavia Prague 4-3 in a roller-coaster game on Thursday, helped by a Pedro brace in a first-half onslaught before withstanding a comeback bid by the Czechs after the break.

Chelsea, who will face Eintracht Frankfurt in the last four, were cruising 4-1 at halftime but Slavia’s Petr Sevcik slammed home two strikes early in the second half, narrowing the aggregate score to 5-3.

With the Stamford Bridge crowd increasingly unsettled, and Slavia being roared on by their travelling fans, Sevcik spurned a chance to cut the deficit further. But Chelsea, having won the first leg 1-0, held on to set up a meeting with Eintracht, who beat visiting Benfica 2-0 to go through on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate scoreline.

Magnificent Lacazette

Naples: A magnificent Alexandre Lacazette free-kick sent Arsenal into the semifinals with a comfortable 1-0 win away to a toothless Napoli, ending Serie A’s interest in European competition this season.

The Frenchman struck in the 36th minute to earn Arsenal a tie against Valencia, just as Napoli, trailing 0-2 from the first leg, were threatening to take control of the game. Valencia eased into the semifinals for the first time in five years with a 2-0 win at home to fellow Spaniards Villarreal. — Reuters