In his 100th start for Chelsea, Fernando Torres was the name being mentioned by fans all across Europe after his side took down Schalke, 3-0, at the Veltins Arena in a UEFA Champions League Group E match.
Torres, who has been often criticized for his lack of goal scoring
since his move from Liverpool in 2011, converted two tap-ins to vault
Chelsea atop Group E.The Spanish forward got on the board just five minutes into the match as he headed home his 38th career goal for the London club past Schalke keeper Timo Hildebrand.
Torres was able to flick his header past Hildebrand because of a brilliant headed assist by Branislav Ivanovic from Chelsea's second corner kick.
It would take 63 minutes until Torres was celebrating with his teammates once more as he finished off a three-on-one counter attack that was mainly powered by Oscar.
By scoring his second goal, Torres equaled his goal total in the competition from when he was a player at Liverpool:
Oscar was able to fend off Schalke's United States international Jermaine Jones on his way to the penalty area before dumping the ball off to the feet of Torres, who coolly slotted home the insurance goal for the Blues.
Chelsea scored once more in the 87th minute by way of Eden Hazard, who scored just seconds before he was substituted for Samuel Eto'o.
While the scoreline shows that Chelsea were the victors on Tuesday night, it was Schalke who held the majority of the possession during the 90 minutes on their home pitch.
The best spell of pressure put on the Chelsea net from the hosts came late in the first half as they forced Petr Cech into making two crucial saves.
Kevin-Prince Boateng and Roman Neustaedter made the Chelsea keeper earn his paycheck as Cech made his two key stops just a minute apart.
After halftime, Schalke continued to pressure the Chelsea back four, but once Torres knocked in the second goal, the spirits of the team and its home fans were deflated.
Source: b/r
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