Chelsea qualify despite late Basel loss

Chelsea scraped through to the knockout stages of the Champions League despite conceding a late Mohamed Salah goal to lose 1-0 at Basel.Jose Mourinho’s side produced an inept performance and they failed to muster a single shot on goal as Basel dominated for long periods.But because the other group E match between Steaua Bucharest and Schalke ended 0-0, Chelsea do enough to qualify.Chelsea put in a strangely subdued performance and looked second best on the night as Petr Cech was called upon to pull off a string of saves in the first half to keep his side in the match. Samuel Eto’o was replaced by Fernando Torres after pulling up with what looked like a serious strain at the end of the first half.But even the introduction of Eden Hazard in the second half failed to give Mourinho’s men the spark he required.And when Salah latched onto Schär’s through ball with only three minutes remaining, Basel grabbed a deserved victory that lifts them to second in the table above Schalke with one match remaining against the Germans.The fact that Chelsea play Steaua at home in their final group match means they should still finish top of the group but tonight’s performance will give their fans little confidence as the competition gets tougher.(uk.eurosport.yahoo.com) ANN.Az