Torres scores winner to seal Chelsea progress

Fernando Torres scored the winning goal and missed a late penalty as Chelsea reached the Europa League quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Steaua Bucharest at Stamford Bridge.

The Spanish forward picked a good time to net his first Europa League goal of the season when he collected a ball from Eden Hazard after some fine build-up play by Juan Mata before turning to stroke the ball into the net on 71 minutes and complete a 3-2 aggregate win in the last-16.

It was only his second goal since Christmas, but his 16th of the season, and what an important one it may prove to be as he showed flashes of his old form at Atletico Madrid and Liverpool to take one touch before shuffling his feet quickly to finish.

Mata had given Chelsea the lead on 34 minutes only for Vlad Chiriches to score from close range for the visitors seconds before half-time to give Steaua a 2-1 aggregate lead after their 1-0 win in the first leg last week.

Rafael Benitez's Chelsea soon began to find the form of their rousing comeback in holding Manchester United 2-2 in the FA Cup quarter-finals and fully deserved their win for a professional second-half performance with returning skipper John Terry's header restoring the home side's lead on 58 minutes before Torres finished off the Romanian side 13 minutes later.

There was still time for Torres to miss a penalty when he slammed the spot-kick off the bar and over after Alexandru Bourceanu had felled Mata inside the visiting penalty area with six minutes left.

Despite that miss, Chelsea always looked good to hold out for their win and complete their bid to add the Europa League to their Champions League success last year.

Chelsea join fellow English sides Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United in the quarter-final draw in Nyon on Friday.

Steaua deserve credit for not coming to London to defend as Raul Rusescu saw a shot halted by Petr Cech's one-handed save in the opening 10 minutes.

Chelsea responded with Hazard setting up John Obi Mikel, but Ciprian Tatarusanu pushed his effort past the post.

Chelsea recovered from the shock of shedding an equaliser to regain the lead when Terry rose well to nod into the corner the net from Mata's free-kick.

Alexsandru Chipciu managed to slam a shot at Cech from distance on 61 minutes before Chelsea regained the momentum to deservedly see themselves into the last eight of the tournament.

Juan Mata (Chelsea) - Another eye-catching display from the little Spaniard, who was a constant nuisance to the visiting side.

CHELSEA: Cech 7; Azpilicueta 6, Luiz 6, Terry 7, Cole 6; Ramires 6, Mikel 6; Hazard 7, Mata 7, Oscar 7; Torres 7; Subs: Benayoun 5, Moses 6.

STEAUA BUCHAREST: Tatarusanu 7; Latovlevici 6, Chiriches 7, Szukala 6, Rapa 6; Pintilii 6, Chipciu 6; Bourceanu 6, Tanase 6, Popa 6; Rusescu 6; Subs: Leandro Tatu 5, Adi Sobrinho 6.