Liverpool gave themselves a bit of a mountain to climb against Chelsea in this Champions League tie. Leading 1-0 and looking relatively comfortable, John Arne Riise headed into his own net with the last touch of the game.
After an absorbing game, particularly the second half, Liverpool had just about done enough to deserve the lead going into the second leg, but Chelsea got a Champions League get out of jail card.
Chelsea started this Champions League semi-final the better of the two teams, but as against Arsenal, Liverpool eventually got into the game and began to stretch their opponents. For 30 minutes either side of half time Chelsea were on the rack a bit, as Liverpool started to create chances.
Dirk Kuyt got a deserved opener, after dispossessing Lampard and running onto Mascherano's speculative chip over Terry and Carvalho, to calmly slot the ball past Cech. For large parts of the second half Liverpool were dominant, but it must be said Chelsea also had some great chances, with Cole in the first half, and Malouda in the second, wasting when well placed.
That Chelsea are still in the tie is due in no small part to Petr Cech. He made three outstanding saves, two at close range from Torres, and one from a Gerrard volley that he tipped over the bar.
Chelsea were also fortunate to have a lenient referee, with some brutal treatment handed out to Liverpool's Fernando Torres. Their back line constantly led with the elbow when jumping for the ball, or simply went through the back of him. Not until the 90th minute did a Chelsea player get booked, much to the sarcastic cheers of disgruntled Liverpool fans.
So it's to Stamford Bridge, with a fortunate advantage to Chelsea in this Champions League duel with Liverpool. Liverpool must now score at Chelsea or they are out. Simple as that!
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