Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1
kuyt 43' Riise 94'(OG)
kuyt 43' Riise 94'(OG)
Last night was another magical night of European football. For the third time in recent years Liverpool met Chelsea in the champions league. For Chelsea it has been a case of so near yet so far for many a year in the champions league, running into likes of Barcelona and Liverpool. They have been on the wrong side every single time. Nothing much seems to have changed between the two teams since the last time they met. Anfield is still a fortress, Steven Gerrard is still Liverpool's inspiration and Chelsea still keep finding a way to win with likes of Lampard and Terry at the center. As expected clear cut chances were at premium, both teams possess stingy defense records and this was very evident during the game. It was a cagey affair with midfield being the focus of the battle. As it generally happens goal came when chelsea failed to clear their lines, Dirk Kuyt the ever opportunistic striker scored when a deflected shot from Alonso fell to him. By putting ball through the legs of Peter Cech. The goal came at 43rd minute just before the end of the first half. Liverpool went in to the break on top. The pressure was now on Chelsea again.
The second was not very dissimilar from the first one. Liverpool's Ryan babel almost added to Liverpool's advantage by unleashing a rasping shot in the second half which just missed the goal. Chelsea had their share of near misses too with the attempts from Lampard and malouda. Then in the dying minutes, Steven Gerrard hit the crossbar and torres forced a big save from Peter Cech. Then when you just thought it was all over and Liverpool had put in an another tidy performance. Avram Grant brought on Anelka and Kalou to help Chelsea find the elusive and valuable away goal. A hit and hope cross from Kalou in to the box with less than a minute left of injury time left forced a quite inexplicable defensive ground header from John Arne Riise went past Reina. And in a blink of an eye Chelsea had become favorites for going through to the final.
Now Chelsea sit firmly in the drivers seat with a crucial away goal. But to say that the tie is done and dusted is definitely premature. Liverpool as we have come to see over the recent past just refuse to go away when it comes to European football. It will come down who scores first at the bridge, only thing one can be sure of is that they will be an English team at Moscow in may.
The second was not very dissimilar from the first one. Liverpool's Ryan babel almost added to Liverpool's advantage by unleashing a rasping shot in the second half which just missed the goal. Chelsea had their share of near misses too with the attempts from Lampard and malouda. Then in the dying minutes, Steven Gerrard hit the crossbar and torres forced a big save from Peter Cech. Then when you just thought it was all over and Liverpool had put in an another tidy performance. Avram Grant brought on Anelka and Kalou to help Chelsea find the elusive and valuable away goal. A hit and hope cross from Kalou in to the box with less than a minute left of injury time left forced a quite inexplicable defensive ground header from John Arne Riise went past Reina. And in a blink of an eye Chelsea had become favorites for going through to the final.
Now Chelsea sit firmly in the drivers seat with a crucial away goal. But to say that the tie is done and dusted is definitely premature. Liverpool as we have come to see over the recent past just refuse to go away when it comes to European football. It will come down who scores first at the bridge, only thing one can be sure of is that they will be an English team at Moscow in may.
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