Olivier Giroud, Chelsea Beat Slavia Prague; Advance to Europa Semi-Final

Chelsea cruised into the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday with a 4-3 win over Slavia Prague that secured a 5-3 aggregate victory.

The Blues got off to the perfect start at Stamford Bridge. Pedro swapped passes with Cesar Azpilicueta and Olivier Giroud before lifting the ball over goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar for the opener after five minutes.

The Spaniard was heavily involved in the second goal four minutes later. The winger hit the post from Eden Hazard's low cross, but the ball rebounded off defender Simon Deli and into the back of the net.

Giroud stroked home Pedro's pass to make it 3-0 after 16 minutes to put Chelsea in complete control of the tie before the visitors pulled one back when Tomas Soucek headed home Petr Sevcik's corner.

However, Chelsea restored their three-goal advantage almost immediately. Pedro netted his second of the match after Giroud's effort had been saved.

The visitors came right back into it after the break with two quick goals. Sevcik beat Kepa Arrizabalaga at his near post with a powerful shot and then produced an even better strike three minutes later to make it 4-3.

The goal made for a tense end to the match, but Chelsea managed to hold on to book their place in the semi-finals of the competition.

Sarri's Influence Has Taken Kante To Another Level

Kante put in a masterclass for Chelsea in the first half against Slavia Prague, as the Blues scored four goals to go 5-1 up on aggregate and blew Slavia Prague away.

The midfielder has been shifted out of his normal central defensive midfield role by manager Sarri this season in favour of Jorginho, but he showed how his game has developed under the Italian.

Kane was superb in possession and produced some penetrating balls forward, particularly for the third goal:

He also showed off other assets of his game that are not usually associated with the World Cup winner:

His performance helped Chelsea effectively kill off the game after the opening 45 minutes, and he was the game's outstanding performer along with Giroud, according to ESPN FC's Liam Twomey:

The second half was a different story entirely, as Chelsea allowed Slavia Prague right back into the game and were forced to work hard for their victory.

Chelsea's drop in performance will take some of the gloss off their victory, but if they can play like they did in the opening 45 minutes it will take something special to stop them lifting the Europa League trophy.

Giroud Deserves To Be Chelsea's First-Choice Striker

Giroud spoke before Thursday's game about his desire for more playing time at Chelsea and how he was "not happy to play the second role," per the Guardian's Dominic Fifield.

The French international has only made seven Premier League starts this season but has been a regular in the Europa League and impressed against Slavia Prague.

The World Cup winner was involved in both of Chelsea's first two goals:

He then stroked home his 10th goal of the competition to put Chelsea 3-0 up:

Yet it was not just his goals and assists that stood out. The French striker's ability to link with his team-mates, hold-up play and bring others into the attack is also important to the team.

Twomey offered a neat summary of his qualities:

Giroud's performance showed that he deserves to be Chelsea's first-choice striker ahead of Gonzalo Higuain, who has struggled to impress since joining on loan from Juventus in January.

Sarri's preference seems to be for the Argentinian at present, but Giroud is the club's best centre-forward and should be ahead of Higuain the pecking order.

What's Next?

Chelsea are back in Premier League action on Monday against Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Slavia Prague play on Sunday away at Zlin.