Half-time: Rubin 0 Chelsea 1 (Agg: 1-4)

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Chelsea are closing in on the Europa League semi-finals after Fernando Torres’ 20th goal of the season put them in complete control in Moscow.

Frank Lampard delivered a fine through-ball and Torres did the rest, lobbing home from 30 yards past keeper Sergei Ryzhikov.

With the freezing weather conditions in Rubin Kazan’s home region of Tartarstan having resulted in a change of venue, the quarter-final second leg is being played at a sparsely populated Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital.

Interim manager Rafael Benitez, who deployed Paulo Ferreira at left-back and youngster Nathan Ake in the Blues midfield, warned his players not to let the eerie setting affect the tempo of their play.

And they responded by scoring after only five minutes – extending their aggregate lead and matching the away goal Rubin managed in the first leg.

Chelsea dominated most of the half but Rubin threatened when Alan Kasaev ran beyond Ake and past John Terry before finding Roman Eremenko, whose low shot from the edge of the box was comfortably saved by Petr Cech.

The Chelsea keeper then made an excellent stop to deny Gokdeniz Karadeniz.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Azpilicueta, Terry, Luiz, Ferreira; Ake, Lampard, Ramires, Moses, Benayoun, Torres.
Subs: Turnbull, Ivanovic, Mata, Oscar, Mikel, Hazard, Marin.

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