SOCCER UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2:GOALS BY Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba in west London last night ensured there'll be blue as well as red flags flying over the Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on May 21st.
The pair struck in extra time to decide a thrilling game in favour of the home side. Chelsea, after two previous semi-final defeats to Liverpool, now go to their first Champions League final, where their season-long battle with Manchester United will now also go into added time for the club game's greatest prize.
An enthralling game throughout played at a terrific pace, extra time produced a succession of heart-stopping moments for fans of both sides. Briefly, the locals must have felt fate had it in for them when Michael Essien had a goal disallowed five minutes into its first period but within minutes Chelsea had a penalty for a trip by Sami Hyypia on Michael Ballack after eight minutes and Frank Lampard coolly converted it.
Drogba got his second of the night, a superb low drive that beat Jose Reina on his near post for the second time on the night.
Late on, Ryan Babel provided some hope for the travelling fans with a spectacular long-range effort that left the outcome hanging in the balance through the last three minutes.
This time, however, the five times champions simply couldn't haul themselves level as they had done earlier when Fernando Torres cancelled out Drogba's first strike of the night with a close-range effort of his own after great work by Yossi Benayoun.
Both managers made a couple of changes to the teams that started last week, with Riise handed the opportunity to make amends for his own goal due to Fabio Aurelio's injury and Babel making way for Benayoun, also on the left. The home side were without the out-of-favour Paolo Ferreira, while Salomon Kalou replaced Florent Malouda.
Ferreira's absence allowed Avram Grant to accommodate both Michael Essien and Frank Lampard with the Ghanaian slotting in at right-back and the Englishman into his familiar midfield role alongside Michael Ballack.
Early on, however, it seemed as though the home side had the edge in every area of the pitch. While Liverpool's hopes of building from the back rarely paid dividends, Chelsea repeatedly played through them down the middle and their cause was helped early on by an injury to Martin Skrtel which forced his withdrawal midway into the half.
The shot rained down on the visitors' goal, 10 in the first half compared to three at the other end, and Ballack, Drogba and Essien all went close. In midfield, the home side, as they did against United, looked utterly dominant and when Liverpool did look to press forward, Fernando Torres tended to look isolated.
There was the occasional opportunity to cancel out last week's cruel last-minute goal and the visiting side's best move of the half came courtesy of Benayoun, starting with an unpunished foul on Joe Cole to win possession deep inside the Israeli's own half and finishing with lay-off some 70 yards upfield to Steven Gerrard, whose first-time time ball sent Torres scurrying free down the left side of the box only for Petr Cech to smother his shot from a tight angle.
Benayoun also failed to connect properly with a volley lined up well by Riise but the flow of the game was very much in the other direction.
Ballack's performance generally overshadowed that of Lampard in the centre of the pitch, with the German directing the pattern of his side's play with a succession of finely judged passes. It was his team-mate, though, who got things moving for the game's opening goal just over half an hour in when he played a low through ball for Kalou, who cut inside and then saw his strike parried by Reina only for Drogba to fire a fearsome drive home.
Had Chelsea got a second before half-time a Liverpool comeback would have seemed almost unimaginable but they didn't and the game showed signs of turning early in the second period as Benitez's men set about the task of hauling themselves back into it.
Gerrard, whose feistiest contribution had been to bundle Grant back into the dugout when the manager delayed a throw-in, now began to gain a yard or so on his marker, Claude Makelele, and assert himself.
His growing influence enlivened the likes of Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso and the contest, having shifted slightly towards Cech's goal, began to look more even.
When the goal came, though, it still stunned the home crowd, who must have wondered how Benayoun could skip past challenges so easily before playing a short ball forward from the edge of the box for Torres, who quickly slipped his shot low and to the right of Cech.
Some 25 minutes of normal time remained at that stage and during that time both sides had chances to take the lead with Essien's shot into the side-netting after a soaring run into the box probably the best of them.
After another few twists and turns, though, the side he has seen so extravagantly assembled with his money did enough to grant Roman Abramovich his wish of a big night out in Moscow.
CHELSEA:Cech, Essien, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole (Anelka 91), Ballack, Makelele, Lampard (Shevchenko 119), Kalou (Malouda 70), Drogba. Subs not used: Cudicini, Obi, Alex, Belletti.
LIVERPOOL:Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel (Hyypia 22), Riise, Kuyt, Alonso, Mascherano, Benayoun (Pennant 78), Gerrard, Torres (Babel 99). Subs not used: Itandje, Finnan, Crouch, Lucas. Booked: Alonso, Arbeloa.
Referee:Roberto Rosetti (Italy).
