Demba Ba's scrambled late goal sent Chelsea into the Champions League semi-finals

Demba Ba's scrambled late goal sent Chelsea into
the Champions League semi-finals at Paris St-
Germain's expense - and sparked a familiar
touchline celebration from delighted Blues boss
Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea needed to claw back PSG's 3-1 advantage
from the first leg and Andre Schurrle - on as an
early substitute for the injured Eden Hazard - gave
them hope with a first-half goal.
And with only three minutes left Ba, another
substitute, bundled the ball home from six yards to
make the decisive contribution and spark wild
celebrations as the Premier League side went
through on away goals.
Mourinho, in scenes reminiscent of his famous
sprint down the Old Trafford touchline in 2004
when Porto knocked out Manchester United on the
way to winning the Champions League, raced to
join his players as they mobbed Ba.
He then pulled players from the celebrating pile to
issue some final orders as the Blues held out to
complete the turnaround.
Ba's finish came just as Chelsea looked to be on
the way out after Schurrle and Oscar were both
denied by the woodwork - although the London
side were helped by a crucial miss from the
normally reliable Edinson Cavani minutes before
the decisive goal.
And goalkeeper Petr Cech, heavily criticised after
that first-leg loss, redeemed himself with a superb
save from Marquinhos in stoppage time to prevent
PSG snatching the tie back at the very last.
It will be Mourinho's third Champions League
semi-final in charge of Chelsea - and he will be
hoping it proves third time lucky after losing his
previous two to Liverpool.
With a Premier League title challenge still very
much on, this season holds the promise of serial
winner Mourinho adding at least one more trophy
to his collection.
The Portuguese was able to recall fit-again Samuel
Eto'o in attack but suffered the major setback of
losing Hazard to injury early on - although
substitute Schurrle more than made his mark.
It was the German who gave the hosts the lift of
the crucial opening goal after 32 minutes. Visiting
boss Laurent Blanc was left furious after his
defence failed to deal with Branislav Ivanovic's
routine long throw, as Schurrle had time and space
in the area to sweep home from David Luiz's
touch.
PSG had shown little attacking ambition without
the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic and continued to
hand the initiative to Chelsea at the start of the
second half, when only the woodwork stopped the
Blues levelling the tie on aggregate, backed up by
that crucial away goal in Paris.
Schurrle was unlucky to see his effort beat keeper
Salvatore Sirigu and rebound off the bar, while
Oscar suffered a similar fate with a 20-yard free-
kick seconds later.
Cech had been little more than an observer to this
point but had to show great athleticism to turn
away Ezequiel Lavezzi's angled effort.
Mourinho made an attacking change with 24
minutes left, Ba getting the nod ahead of Fernando
Torres to provide extra threat when Frank Lampard
was replaced.
As PSG tried to cash in on Chelsea's increasing
urgency, Cavani - of whom little had been seen -
hinted at his danger with a powerful volley that
flew narrowly over.
The Uruguayan then had an even better chance to
kill Chelsea off when he was released by a
magnificent pass from former Newcastle midfielder
Yohan Cabaye. The entire PSG bench were off
their feet in anticipation as Cavani raced through,
only for the striker to fire over the top with just
Cech to beat.
As the game entered its last 10 minutes Mourinho
played his final card, sending on Torres for the
tiring Oscar, but it was Ba who was the man on
the spot to provide that dramatic finale and ensure
a place in Friday's semi-final draw.