Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool
Chelsea finally beat Liverpool in the Champions League Semi Final after three attempts at doing so. They beat Liverpool 3-2 on Wednesday night to reach the finals of the Champions League to play Manchester United in Moscow on the 21st May.
Chelsea went into the match with an away goal, so had a slight advantage over Liverpool but started the brighter of the two sides and had some good early chances. Recently criticized by Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, Didier Drogba opened the scoring for Chelsea as Pepe Reina’s attempted punch clear fell to Drogba who smashed the ball under the keeper and into the net.
Liverpool managed to grab an equalizer late in the game through Spanish striker Fernando Torres and made the game go into extra time, after the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Extra time was looking good for Liverpool who were boosted by their equalizing goal, whereas Chelsea looked tired and exhausted.
Chelsea were fuming minutes into extra time when Michael Essien had a goal ruled out for offside but their anger soon turned to joy when Michael Ballack was hacked down in the box and a penalty was given. The responsibility fell to Frank Lampard, who was playing in the match after losing his mother last week. The pressure was on the England midfielder but he coolly stepped up, slotted the ball home and ran to the corner flag with his arms raised to the sky, and the kissed the black armband he was wearing.
The whistle for the end of the first half in extra time went with Chelsea 3-1 up. Didier Drogba broke away from his man and met a front post cross to turn the ball past Reina. It looked certain that Chelsea would reach the final to play Manchester United but Liverpool are known for their late comebacks.
And Liverpool pulled one back, thanks to a Ryan Babel effort that slipped through Petr Cech’s grasp and into the net, 3-2 the score with around 4 minutes left.
The final whistle blew and Chelsea manager Avram Grant had achieved what Jose Mourinho had failed to do as Chelsea manager, reach the Champions League. They will face Manchester United in the all English final in Moscow on May 21.
