Chelsea and Porto progress.

11/3/2009 11:15:04 PM

Chelsea reached the knockout round of the Champions League on Tuesday despite conceding an injury-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba scored two late goals on his return from a three-match ban for the Blues to top Group D with 10 points.

FC Porto also advanced from the group after beating APOEL Nicosia 1-0 to move to nine points. Atletico has two and APOEL one.

Following a scoreless first half at Vicente Calderon stadium, Atletico substitute Sergio Aguero scored in the 66th minute.

Aguero showed why Chelsea made a reported $74 million offer for the Argentine in the offseason, being perfectly placed to volley defender John Terry's attempted clearance into the top of the net for the Spanish club's first goal of the competition.

Drogba strikes

Drogba, playing for the first time in Europe since a foul-mouthed tirade in May, was left unmarked in the 82nd minute to head Florent Malouda's cross home and equalise.

The Ivory Coast striker looked to have won it for Chelsea in the 88th when he slotted in the rebound after goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo had stopped his initial shot.

But Aguero curled a free kick from the edge of the area beyond goalkeeper Petr Cech in the first minute of injury time to level.

Atletico now has two games to secure its place in the Europa League, including a match against last-place APOEL.

The hosts enjoyed the better run of play in the first half, with Cech stretching to stop Juan Antonio Reyes' curling shot in the 21st.

Soon after, Atletico's Pablo Ibanez executed an excellent sliding tackle to deny Drogba a clear run into the area.

Atletico picked up where it left off in the second half, pressuring but unable to find the back of the net.

Cleber Santana headed over, but Chelsea hit back in attack with Asenjo having to turn Drogba's free kick on to the post.

Quique Sanchez Flores was leading Atletico in Europe for the first time since Abel Resino was fired following the 4-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago.

The coach brought Aguero on in the 53rd, and the young striker immediately troubled the defence.

Aguero came close again in the 74th but couldn't reach a pass from Simao Sabrosa to the far post.

Chelsea then began to press with more urgency, Asenjo coming out to deny Frank Lampard and Deco then collecting the rebound but shooting wide.

Porto qualify

In the group andrsquo;s other match, Falcao scored a late goal for FC Porto to win 1-0 at APOEL Nicosia and progress to the knockout round.

The Colombian striker scored in the 85th minute when he fooled a defender

at the edge of the box and hit a low strike past goalkeeper Dionisios Chiotis into the corner of the net.

Porto is second in Group D with nine points, one behind Chelsea. Both teams have advanced after Chelsea drew 2-2 with Atletico Madrid. Atletico has two points and APOEL has one.

FC Porto's Hulk beat the offside trap in the 30th minute but he couldn't get around Chiotis, who raced out to smother the ball.

Falcao had another chance when the ball fell to him in the box, but Chiotis made a diving save to stop the shot.

APOEL tried to dictate the pace and did well to contain Porto's quick attackers who were mostly held to long-range efforts in the first half.

In the 16th, Raul Meireles' shot from 25 metres deflected off a defender's leg, but Chiotis saved well.

Hulk also came close in the 25th when his low, bouncing cross was mishandled by Chiotis, but the ball trickled just wide of the post.

APOEL's best chance in the first half came in the 14th when Serbian striker Nenad Mirosavljevic dummied a defender in the box, turned and shot high for the top right corner, forcing Porto goalkeeper Helton into a diving save.

Porto piled on the pressure in the second half and created several good scoring chances, but APOEL didn't buckle and also threatened at the other end.

Hulk also figured prominently in the second half, with his speed causing havoc in the APOEL defence.

In the 77th, he embarked on a speedy run from the left flank before shooting just wide of the far post from almost point-blank range.

Mirosavljevic missed a couple of chances for APOEL in the second half.

On the hour mark he failed to connect with Constantinos Charalambides' cross

from the right flank and then 10 minutes later he was set up by substitute

Nectarios Alexandrou's low cross but he could only direct a weak shot from 13 metres out straight at Helton.

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