Liverpool 1, Chelsea 1: Post Match Analysis

Apr 23 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

ON their triumphant march towards Istanbul in 2005, Liverpool turned doing things the hard way into an art form.

Now Rafael Benitez’s side will again have to dig deep into their renowned resolve to give themselves a chance of further glory in Moscow next month.

Seconds after the four minutes of scheduled injury time had ticked past, John Arne Riise headed Salomon Kalou’s cross into his own net to hand Chelsea an undeserved and unlikely foothold in this Champions League semi-final.

It means Liverpool must do something they haven’t done in eight previous games at Stamford Bridge under Benitez in next Wednesday’s second leg – score a goal.

Otherwise, after two previous defeats in three years to Liverpool at this stage of the competition, it could well be third time very lucky for Avram Grant’s men.

As sickeners come, they don’t come much more sickening than Riise’s calamity in front of the Kop, his second own goal of the season after gifting Luton a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup in January.

It handed Chelsea a vital away goal and makes them clear favourites to progress to the final in Moscow on May 21. Having been at pains to insist Liverpool were underdogs before last night, Benitez will find few dissenters now.

Until the late drama, the Spaniard’s side had done enough to merit a third successive 1-0 win over the Londoners in an Anfield semi-final.

Dirk Kuyt broke the deadlock two minutes before half-time with his seventh goal of this Champions League campaign. Despite scoring only four times in domestic competition, the Dutchman has now netted against all opposition in Europe this season bar Besiktas.

The final whistle was met with a brief stunned silence from the home fans. Slowly, though, they roused themselves back into song, taking heart from the fact that, the first 20 minutes apart, Liverpool were the better team and created the better chances.

Indeed, it was appropriate that it took a home player to score past Pepe Reina, because the visitors never looked like doing so.

The magnificent Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher kept Chelsea dangerman Didier Drogba under lock and key, while the Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso edged midfield dominance.

In truth, Liverpool could have been out of sight before the injury-time agony.

Fernando Torres has proven Liverpool’s talisman so often this season that it would be harsh to criticise the 30-goal striker. But on another day the Spaniard could have had two goals, only to be denied by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, tellingly by far the visitors’ most impressive performer.

Poor Riise, meanwhile, had only been introduced because of yet another injury to the unlucky Fabio Aurelio, who left on a stretcher once again in a Champions League game. The Norwegian was subsequently picked out for a post-match drugs test.

Now Benitez will have to conjure up another tactical masterclass at the hardly intimidating Stamford Bridge – a ground where Liverpool have won only once in close to 19 years – to reach their third European Cup final in four years.

Going into the game, Liverpool boasted a remarkable record at this stage of the competition. Since being eliminated by Inter Milan in 1965, they had won seven consecutive European Cup semi-finals during which they have not conceded a single goal in the home leg.

Chelsea, by contrast had appeared in three European Cup semi-finals and lost them all, the last two, of course, coming against Liverpool in 2005 and 2007.

After resting players for Saturday’s 2-0 win at Fulham, Benitez rolled out the big hitters last night. The Spaniard’s main decision was in employing Carragher alongside Skrtel at the heart of the defence, with Alvaro Arbeloa coming in at right-back and Sami Hyypia on the bench.

This was Liverpool’s 18th meeting with Chelsea in less than four years under Benitez’s tutelage.

The previous six Champions League clashes had produced only three goals, so every strike would prove crucial in what was expected to be another tight encounter.

And it was Liverpool who netted first three minutes before the interval with an opener in which scorer Kuyt was hugely influential during the build-up.

A quick free-kick from Alonso released the Dutchman down the right but his cross was headed out by John Terry. However, Frank Lampard dallied in possession on the edge of the area and was dispossessed by Kuyt, the ball eventually breaking to Mascherano.

The Argentine slashed at his attempted pass into the box, but the ball fell into the path of Kuyt who, having continued his run and held off the attentions of Claude Makelele, slipped the ball between the legs of Cech.

It was a deserved lead for Liverpool after rallying during the final 20 minutes of the half.

Before then, Chelsea had enjoyed by far the better possession as Liverpool struggled to gain a foothold in the game.

But their only threat, save a Joe Cole miscued volley from Lampard’s raking pass, came with a penalty shout on 29 minutes.

Drogba and Carragher gave chase to another Lampard ball before colliding, leaving Chelsea furious at referee Konrad Plautz’s decision to wave play on.

Television replays suggested the incident occurred marginally outside the area and Carragher’s contact with the ball was the merest brush of his studs.

That appeared to shake Benitez’s side into action, and they had their own penalty claim moments later when Ashley Cole gave Kuyt a sneaky shove inside the box.

In between came their first clear opening, a fine cushioned volley from Gerrard releasing Torres into space. The striker took two touches to gain control, but shot straight at Cech’s chest.

Buoyed by Kuyt’s goal, Liverpool began the second half in vibrant fashion. The improving Ryan Babel turned and flashed a shot narrowly wide from 25 yards, while there were further muted calls for a penalty when Carragher struck against Michael Ballack’s right arm from close range.

Chelsea, though, rode the storm and started pushing the home side back, and almost equalised midway through the half when possession shifted through Ballack and Lampard to Malouda at the far post, who evaded Arbeloa’s attempted tackle but saw his shot blocked by a magnificent Mascherano sliding challenge.

Reina safely fielded a dangerous Ballack shot from range while, at the other end, Gerrard twisted beyond Makelele in the 85th minute and fired a venomous angled volley that was destined for the top corner but for a fine parry by Cech.

The Chelsea goalkeeper then made another fine save in stoppage time to deny Gerrard, a stop which was made all the more vital by Riise’s unfortunate last-gasp intervention.

Substitute Kalou shouldn’t have been allowed the space to cross from the left but why Riise chose to clear with a diving header rather than put his right foot through the ball only the Norwegian knows. To paraphrase the song, Liverpool supporters would really like to know how the left-back scored that goal.

The end result means that, once again, Liverpool have made life difficult for themselves in the Champions League.