Chelsea vs Napoli Champions League second leg saw Chelsea overturning a two-goal deficit from the first leg against Napoli to urge into the Champions League quarterfinals, winning a thrilling match 4-1 after extra time to maintain England’s sole interest in 2012 Champions League.

London / NationalTurk – Chelsea’s Serbia defender Branislav Ivanovic completed a dramatic turnaround at Stamford Bridge with a 105th-minute winner in an end-to-end second leg game Chelse vs Napoli, sealing a dramatic 5-4 aggregate victory over the Italian side. Chelsea’s troubled captain John Terry hailed the return of the ‘real Chelsea’ on what he described as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever nights.

Chelsea captain John Terry hailed the return of the ‘real Chelsea’ on what he described as one of the club’s greatest ever nights.

Having played an inspirational role in Chelsea’s 4-1 win over Napoli, scoring the team’s second goal, Terry said the result demonstrated the unity in the dressing room in the wake of the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas.

‘ This is one of the very best nights for us,’ Chelsea captain John Terry described the victory over Napoli. ‘ We showed what Chelsea are all about.'”We were solid and resilient and fought until the very end. We’ve proved we’re a team tonight. Players came in and we stuck together when it mattered.”

Chelsea vs Napoli Champions League : Chelsea ‘head’ed its way to quarter finals

Fine headers by Didier Drogba and Terry wiped out Napoli’s 3-1 lead from the first leg by the end of 48th minute, before Napoli’s Turkis-Swiss player Gokhan Inler put the Champions League debutants from Napels back in front on aggregate in the 55th. of Chelsea vs Napoli game.

Despite having experienced years of triumphs at Stamford Bridge during his career at Chelsea, Terry claimed that the 5-4 aggregate win after extra-time, overturning the 3-1 deficit from the first leg, “could top them all”.

“That’s what we’re about,” he said. “That desire, that togetherness and sticking together when it really mattered. We showed what Chelsea are really made of.”

Frank Lampard, another of Chelsea’s much-vaunted old guard, sent the Chelsea vs Napoli game into extra time by leveling at 4-4 with a 75th-minute penalty earned by Ivanovic. The Serb defender went on to seal victory from Drogba’s cut-back with a finish that the irrepressible striker would have been proud of.

Chelsea vs Napoli : Chelsea to carry the England flag in Champions League 2012

Chelsea is the only remaining English club to qualify for the last eight in the Champions League 2012, with the two Manchester clubs crashing out in the group stage and Arsenal eliminated in the last 16 last week.

Chelsea is also the first team in eight years to advance in the Champions League after a first-leg loss by a margin of at least two goals.

‘ Chelsea made history and knew that it would take a lot to win,” stated interim coach Roberto Di Matteo, who has rejuvenated Chelsea with three straight wins since taking over from the sacked Andre Villas-Boas late last month.

”Some of the players couldn’t even run at the end because they had cramp, but they just kept fighting. Everybody was incredible.” Di Matteeo praised his Chelsea players after Chelsea vs Napoli game.

Chelsea vs Napoli : Italian teams to dissipate in England at second legs far too easily ?

Arsenal had given Italy a warning of English teams’ powers of recovery in front of home fans last week, beating AC Milan 3-0 to nearly overturn a four-goal disadvantage from the first leg.

Chelsea succeeded where its London rival had narrowly failed, reaching the last eight in the Champions League for the seventh time in the past nine years.

Few pundits and even Chelsea fans were giving the hosts a chance after their woeful performance in Naples three weeks ago – one of Villas-Boas’ last games in charge – when they were ripped apart by Napoli’s three-pronged lethal strikeforce of Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik.

The deadly trio of Napoli, who have helped revive the glory days at the Italian side more than 20 years after the Diego Maradona era, were at it again in the early stages at Stamford Bridge by troubling Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Chelsea vs Napoli Highlights Video

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Didier Drogba, fresh from scoring his 100th Premier League goal at the weekend, soon breathed fresh life into the match when the Ivory Coast international met Ramires’ cross with a firm header in the 29th minute of Chelsea vs Napoli game.

Napoli’s previously raucous fans were further quietened three minutes after the half time when Frank Lampard’s corner to the near post found Terry, whose glancing header found the far corner.

Chelsea vs Napoli : The away goal that really counts

At that stage, Chelsea was not just in control of the match – it was also ahead on aggregate due to its away goal at San Paolo stadium in Naples.

Swiss-born Turkish midfielder Gökhan Inler put Napoli back in front overall in the 55th when he chested down Terry’s headed clearance on the edge of the area after a Napoli corner and smashed a sweet half-volley that flew into the bottom corner followed by looks from Czeh.

Frank Lampard took the Chelsea vs Napoli game into extra time by converting a fiercely struck penalty 15 minutes from time after Ivanovic’s header hit the raised hand of Andrea Dossena.

Fernando Torres, on as a 63rd-minute substitute and desperate to end a goal drought stretching back 25 matches, missed an open goal from an acute angle in the 100th – but Ivanovic made no mistake five minutes later in the Chelsea vs Napoli game

Having presented a united front on the pitch last night, they were keen to display one off it as well, with Abramovich and technical director Michael Emenalo visiting the dressing room after the game.

Comments from Chelsea and Napoli sides after Chelsea vs Napoli thriller

“He was happy because we won,” backed Roberto Di Matteo his player up, the man temporarily in charge Chelsea, when asked what Roman Abramovich had stated in the dressing room. “but apart from that it was private.”

Frank Lampard, who took the tie into extra-time with a late penalty, expressed the result could turn Chelsea’s disappointing season around. “It was important we showed a desire and spirit to keep ourselves in the competition,” he stated.

“It’s been a difficult season but a performance like that tonight can change things for us so it’s important we go on from here. It’s an absolutely huge win for us.”

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri refused to blame referee Felix Brych for his side’s defeat.

“Uefa should do more to punish tactical fouls in the middle of the pitch,” he said. “But in the end, we should have been more careful. Everything went wrong from the very start with [Christian] Maggio going off.

“We played better at times and showed more quality, but probably needed a bit more composure in front of goal.” the Italian admitted.

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