Basel had ended the Premier League club's 29-match home unbeaten run in the group stages of the competition back in September with a shock 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge and they repeated the dose courtesy of Salah's dramatic late winner.
Murat Yakin's side now head into their final group game against Schalke next month knowing they only need a point to progress to the last 16. Chelsea were poor on the night and failed to register a single shot on target, but Schalke's failure to beat Steaua Bucharest ensured their progress.
Willian replaced Eden Hazard in the only change to the Chelsea side that beat West Ham 3-0 at the weekend, while fit-again striker Fernando Torres was back on the bench. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer, midfielder Salah and defender Ivan Ivanov all returned to the Basel starting line-up.
John Obi Mikel then cleared off the line after Ivanov got a toe to a Fabian Schar corner and Salah was twice denied by the busy Cech as Chelsea remained on the back foot.Petr Cech had to be alert to palm away a Taulant Xhaka free-kick from wide on the left after only two minutes and Chelsea failed to heed the warning when they backed off 10 minutes later and Fabian Frei's strike was saved by the Czech Republic goalkeeper. There was a blow for the visitors three minutes before half-time when Samuel Eto'o was carried off, with Torres replacing him.
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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho warned Basel
that his side were much improved since the Swiss champions' shock win at
Stamford Bridge in September, but there was no evidence of that as the
home side dominated the opening stages. But at last Hazard replaced the ineffective Oscar nine
minutes into the second half as Chelsea struggled to get going and Basel
snatched a crucial winner when Salah raced away following Schar's pass, and he kept his nerve with a clinical finish to stun Chelsea
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