Chelsea beat Valencia 3-2 on aggregate to enter the Champions League semi-finals for the third time in four seasons.
The 21-year-old Denmark international has made 22 appearances for the English champions this term having cemented his place at the heart of Antonio Conte's three-man defence.
Chelsea moved 12 points clear of Arsenal, who suffered their fourth defeat in nine league matches, while fourth-placed Liverpool fell 13 point adrift after their wretched 2017 continued with a shock 2-0 defeat at resurgent Hull City.
Defending champions Manchester City scintillated a stellar performance to record an emphatic 5-0 win over Newcastle, and reduced Chelsea's advantage to five points in the Premier League table on Saturday at Etihad Stadium.
As Chelsea's Samuel Eto'o turns a year older today, Rediff.com celebrates this African gem and a milestone man...
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Tuesday
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Out-of-sorts Chelsea have a golden opportunity to restore battered self-confidence when they face Maccabi Tel Aviv in their opening Champions League Group G match.
Chelsea overpowered West Ham United and Manchester City outclassed West Bromwich Albion as the Premier League title rivals signalled their intent at the start of a hectic holiday programme on Friday.
Romelu Lukaku scored two goals for Everton, one demonstrating rare strength and skill, to knock his old side Chelsea out of the FA Cup 2-0 in a dramatic quarter-final featuring two red cards on Saturday. All the frantic action happened in the final 13 minutes with Chelsea striker Diego Costa and Everton midfielder Gareth Barry sent off but their dismissals only came after Lukaku's brilliance had put the tie beyond doubt. The powerful Belgium striker, who never fitted in at Stamford Bridge and was sold to the Merseysiders for 28 million pounds ($40.28 million) two years ago, proved irresistible with his late five-minute double, especially with a first goal destined to go down in Goodison Park folklore. As the game meandered towards a replay, Lukaku conjured a 77th-minute goal from nowhere, muscling past two defenders on the left, powering into the box and, after some nifty footwork to bamboozle Gary Cahill, firing in a left-foot effort. Everton manager Roberto Martinez hailed it "one of the great goals we will see in the FA Cup".
The unstoppable Gareth Bale scored twice in Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 victory over Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday while rivals Chelsea and Arsenal also won to add spice to the race for the Champions League spots.
Chelsea returned to the top of the Premier League on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at a rain-drenched Ewood Park. Aston Villa could have gone above Manchester United into the top four but lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough for whom Tuncay Sanli scored an 88th-minute winner.
Manchester United eased the pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a 3-1 win at Everton in the Premier League on Saturday with Bruno Fernandes scoring twice and Edinson Cavani grabbing his first for the club.
Messi opened the scoring after two minutes and eight seconds, the quickest goal of his career, slipping the ball through Thibaut Courtois' legs from a tight angle.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Jose Mourinho dropped his main striker Diego Costa for Chelsea's Premier League visit to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday but the champions still proved toothless up front as they ground out an undistinguished goalless draw at White Hart Lane.
Chelsea's players must look at themselves and start performing, former Blues stalwart Frank Lampard said as speculation continues to swirl over the future of manager Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea and England footballer Ashley Cole was arrested early on Thursday morning on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, a police source said. Cole was stopped by police on Brompton Road, in an upmarket area of London.
As Chelsea's season suffered a final sorry implosion with an FA Cup defeat at Everton on Saturday, it was fitting that it should end with another display of fury from their angry young man, Diego Costa. While the inquest into the Premier League champions' dismal campaign will continue long after their 2-0 quarter-final reverse at Everton, the immediate topic consuming social media centred on the combustible Spain striker's sending-off, surprisingly his first for Chelsea. Alan Shearer, one of England's greatest strikers, joined the debate by telling BBC viewers the Brazilian-born forward had become "tiresome". Much of the attention focused on whether Costa, who became embroiled in a late face-to-face brouhaha with Everton's Gareth Barry, had gone as far as biting his opponent, Luis Suarez-style. Another question was whether he spat at the feet of referee Michael Oliver after being booked earlier for an altercation with Barry. "It's tiresome from him now. He spends too much time abusing and fighting and scrapping," Shearer said. "You can't do that every game because you turn the ref against you."
"Chelsea are a great club, so of course it interests me, but nothing has been signed or agreed yet," the Porto coach said.
Frank Lampard underlined his value to Chelsea with a well-taken double that secured a 2-1 comeback win at Everton on Sunday to move the Londoners back up to third place in the Premier League.
Manchester City moved 17 points clear of the pack with a 3-0 win at Fulham on Saturday
Tottenham Hotspur's tenacious chase of leaders Chelsea continued as they claimed a 12th consecutive Premier League home win with a 4-0 rout of Bournemouth on Saturday to cut the gap to four points.
Chelsea's Jose Mourinho, who hoped to celebrate his new contract with victory at an expectant Stamford Bridge, ended up grateful his team did not become the first Premier League champions to start their title defence with a defeat.
It might not save manager Antonio Conte's job but Chelsea can still salvage a disappointing season by winning Saturday's FA Cup final
Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
IMAGES from Saturday's English Premier League matches.
Newcastle United's Papiss Cisse struck twice in a 2-1 victory against English Premier League leaders Chelsea.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona were drawn in Group E with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv.
Watford climbed into the top four of the Premier League after Tom Cleverley's 92nd-minute goal gave them a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Two goals from Wayne Rooney gave Manchester United a 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur and denied Chelsea the chance to be crowned Premier League champions again on Monday.
Chelsea moved within two points of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League after a 1-0 victory over Liverpool thanks to an Olivier Giroud header at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
A man has been arrested over an allegation that a racist gesture was made to a player during last week's Capital One Cup match between Chelsea and Manchester United, London's Metropolitan police said on Monday.
IMAGES from Saturday's English Premier League matches.
Barnsley's reward for knocking holders Chelsea and Liverpool out of the FA Cup is a semi-final against fellow Championship (second division) side Cardiff City.
The squad and Tite will gather on Nov. 14 at Juventus' training facilities in Turin, where Brazil will hold a five-day training camp before flying to Doha on Nov. 19.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is unsure if the Premier League champions are over the worst following their poor start to the season, but he said on Friday that a win and two clean sheets in the last week had lifted everyone at the club.
With the 3-0 loss, Chelsea and the Gaffer have now matched the club's worst records -- Mourinho suffered his joint-heaviest defeat as a Premier League manager, while, for the first time in 17 years, the Blues have failed to record a win in either of their opening league games
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