Pedro’s smart double helped Chelsea to survive a fright night by Slavia Prague in a 4-3 home win on Thursday and to secure a place in the semi-finals of the Europa League.
The Blues won their spot 5-3 on aggregate and became the second Premier League team after Manchester City to hit 100 goals in all competitions this term.
After only five minutes Pedro opened the scoring and after Simon Deli’s own goal, the Spaniard teed up Europa League high-scorer Olivier Giroud for his 10th goal of the competition.
The Czech visitors restored their pride and threatened a remarkable comeback when they scored two early second-half scores but there was to be no Chelsea collapse.
Pedro lashed home a stylish opener nearly scored again three minutes later, turning Hazard’s low cross against the post only for a rebound to strike defender Deli in the head and bounce over the line.
After N’Golo Kante’s exquisite third score, Pedro raced on to the defense-splitting pass, squared to Giroud and the France striker tapped home.
However, the host’s dominance evaporated when Sevcik twice netted from distance sending shock waves to the Blues. David Luiz got away with a handball to deny Slavia another chance with the visitors squandering their free-kick on the edge of Chelsea area.
So the Blues held out, sharply escaping a genuine fright and Maurizio Sarri, the head coach hit the touchline with a mixture of panic and fury for the last quarter-hour.
