Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
When Petr Cech acrobatically tipped Steven Gerrard's late shot over the bar, he prevented Chelsea from having to win their second leg 3-0 in order to progress to the Final. When John Arne Riise stooped to head past Pepe Reina, he left the London side needing just a goalless draw to book their tickets to Moscow. The line between success and failure has never been so thin.
The four previous semi-finals between these two teams have been insomnia cures and after 25 minutes of this tie, I feared that we were in for another snoozefest. Both sides appeared to have reached the conclusion that kicking the ball in the air as hard as they could was the route to success. Then, as Joe Cole spurned a golden opportunity to give his side the lead, Liverpool burst into life and when Rafa Benitez finally switches off his bedside lamp tonight, he'll know that his players should have made more use of their dominance. After Cole's aberration, a full 45 minutes passed before Chelsea had another attempt on goal. Unlike Liverpool, their style of play remained distinctly under-evolved, but Didier Drogba struggled to do anything of note with the long-balls, bar upsetting the home fans with a few more outings of his time-honoured dying swan routine.
Liverpool, in contrast, grew in strength as the game wore on and, though their goal was as scrappy and as undignified as you'll see at this level, their short passing was tremendous. But of all the criticisms you can throw at Chelsea, you cannot doubt their commitment, their resilience and their ability to fight until the bitter end. That they take such a commanding position back to Stamford Bridge next week is due mainly to the brilliance of Cech, who has the worst luck with injuries, but refuses to allow them to prevent him taking his place between the sticks. Held together by two protective masks, he made the critical saves that prevented Liverpool from romping home.
Fernando Torres, so often the hitman with the killer touch, was neutralised by the heavy-handed attentions of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho. By fair means or foul, they allowed him just two chances and Cech was there to save the day on both occasions. Frank Lampard created a number of golden opportunities for his team-mates, but was at fault for Liverpool's goal and looked a little off the pace, which is hardly surprising, given the emotional turmoil that the England midfielder has been through.
Liverpool fans will be devastated at this late disaster, especially as they were the better team and deserved to win the tie. However, it is the nature of the equaliser that will cause the stinging pangs of bitterness in their hearts. The late ball into the box by Salomon Kalou wasn't fast, it wasn't even particularly dangerous. All Riise had to do was to blast it into the stands with his right foot. Unfortunately, the Norwegian full-back isn't very comfortable with that boot. He'll be even less comfortable when he watches the endless slow motion replays of his doltish header.
It is of course, only half-time in the third epic encounter between the two teams in four years. All Liverpool have to do is to score early at Stamford Bridge and the tie will be blown wide open once again. Sadly for Liverpool, they've failed to score at that stadium in their last four visits. Avram Grant's smile at full-time was as wide as the mouth of the Mersey, and no wonder. Finally, a press conference that he could savour.
The four previous semi-finals between these two teams have been insomnia cures and after 25 minutes of this tie, I feared that we were in for another snoozefest. Both sides appeared to have reached the conclusion that kicking the ball in the air as hard as they could was the route to success. Then, as Joe Cole spurned a golden opportunity to give his side the lead, Liverpool burst into life and when Rafa Benitez finally switches off his bedside lamp tonight, he'll know that his players should have made more use of their dominance. After Cole's aberration, a full 45 minutes passed before Chelsea had another attempt on goal. Unlike Liverpool, their style of play remained distinctly under-evolved, but Didier Drogba struggled to do anything of note with the long-balls, bar upsetting the home fans with a few more outings of his time-honoured dying swan routine.
Liverpool, in contrast, grew in strength as the game wore on and, though their goal was as scrappy and as undignified as you'll see at this level, their short passing was tremendous. But of all the criticisms you can throw at Chelsea, you cannot doubt their commitment, their resilience and their ability to fight until the bitter end. That they take such a commanding position back to Stamford Bridge next week is due mainly to the brilliance of Cech, who has the worst luck with injuries, but refuses to allow them to prevent him taking his place between the sticks. Held together by two protective masks, he made the critical saves that prevented Liverpool from romping home.
Fernando Torres, so often the hitman with the killer touch, was neutralised by the heavy-handed attentions of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho. By fair means or foul, they allowed him just two chances and Cech was there to save the day on both occasions. Frank Lampard created a number of golden opportunities for his team-mates, but was at fault for Liverpool's goal and looked a little off the pace, which is hardly surprising, given the emotional turmoil that the England midfielder has been through.
Liverpool fans will be devastated at this late disaster, especially as they were the better team and deserved to win the tie. However, it is the nature of the equaliser that will cause the stinging pangs of bitterness in their hearts. The late ball into the box by Salomon Kalou wasn't fast, it wasn't even particularly dangerous. All Riise had to do was to blast it into the stands with his right foot. Unfortunately, the Norwegian full-back isn't very comfortable with that boot. He'll be even less comfortable when he watches the endless slow motion replays of his doltish header.
It is of course, only half-time in the third epic encounter between the two teams in four years. All Liverpool have to do is to score early at Stamford Bridge and the tie will be blown wide open once again. Sadly for Liverpool, they've failed to score at that stadium in their last four visits. Avram Grant's smile at full-time was as wide as the mouth of the Mersey, and no wonder. Finally, a press conference that he could savour.
