By John ST

Liverpool were given a taste of their own medicine as they ended the Champions League semi-final first leg vexed – John Arne Riise scored a last-gasp own goal to hand Chelsea the advantage in a 1-1 draw.

The match was clouded by security concerns because of the arrival of an unwelcome man, Tom Hicks. There was no telling if fans’ displeasure at the power struggle and the debt-ridden status of their club will turn into violence. However, Hicks defiantly showed up in the Anfield directors box, paying scant regard to personal safety.

Rick Parry was relegated to the back of the seats by Hick’s entourage. Gillett did not make the trip but invited a DIC consortium comprising their chief executive and negotiator. Fortunately, the political sideshow matters little to the vociferous Anfield crowd who were engrossed on the pitch action.

Both teams began in cautious fashion and given their penchant for winning “efficiently,” goals were expected to be a rare occurrence. As the minutes ticked away, it was Liverpool who got into the groove with a confident and enterprising display. They dominated proceedings and were rewarded with a goal before half time.

Unfortunately, Liverpool did not press home their advantage despite further clear-cut chances. Eventually, Chelsea made the Reds pay for the profligacy. Grant had to thank Riise for gift-wrapping the away goal and Petr Cech who produced amazing saves to deny an embarrassing scoreline. I am impressed with Cech’s tenacity as he had suffered severe injuries to his skull and recently had stitches inserted in his face following a training ground incident but his composure and sharpness were still intact.

Dirk Kuyt launched Liverpool’s first real threat when he raced onto Alonso’s long pass but his poor chest control allowed Carvalho and Cech to clear the danger. Swimming against the tide, Chelsea nearly broke the duck as Frank Lampard picked out Joe Cole with a sublime chip in the penalty area but Cole could only muster a weak volley.

In the 29th minute, Didier charged towards a through ball and Carragher was left to chase him down. At the final moment, just when the Ivorian appeared ready to pull the trigger, Carragher struck his foot out and both tumbled outside the penalty box. Drogba instinctively clamored for a penalty but referee Konrad Plautz dismissed the protests.

This was actually the second blatant foul by Carragher. As early as the 2nd minute, Drogba’s raw pace and power had already pushed Carragher to the limits. Drogba bullied his way through and the only way to stop him was to commit a foul, rather than affording him a sitter. I do not blame Carragher as Drogba is a defender’s nightmare when he is on song, just ask Arsenal’s rearguard who was torn apart ruthlessly.

In the 31st minute, the Gerrard-Torres partnership spun into action. Gerrard who was shackled tightly by Makelele till then, managed to carve out a defence-splitting pass to put Torres clean through. However, hopes of securing an early lead were doomed when Cech made a superb stop to frustrate “El Nino.”

Liverpool were not discouraged, their relentless forays yielded a goal after 43 minutes. Kuyt robbed Lampard outside the box and a neat exchange between Alonso and Mascherano saw the Argentine loping a speculative pass a few yards away from Cech. A mix up between Makelele and Ashley Cole allowed Kuyt to pounce, sliding his shot under Cech.

Chelsea were punished for their carelessness but what is disappointing is their reaction after half-time. Instead of firing on all cylinders to make up for lost ground, they were equally lackluster. Grant has apparently not done a proper job of pumping up his men’s morale in the dressing room.

Liverpool continued to pursue a second goal as Ryan Babel caused chaos in Chelsea’s defense by surging past Paulo Ferreira and whipping in a low cross that led to a blocked Torres shot. Babel remained a constant danger and went close again in the 60th minute with a dipping half-volley.

Chelsea finally awoke from their slumber when Michael Ballack met Lampard’s free-kick with a glancing header which Jose Reina held well. Florent Malouda then took Lampard’s pass and cut inside Alvaro Arbeloa. Just as Malouda was about to shoot, Mascherano slid in with a crucial block.

In the closing minutes, Gerrard forced a brilliant one-handed tip-over from Cech as Liverpool sought to close the match. Cech then denied Torres with another fine stop at his near post. Unfortunately, out of the blue (as Chelsea were still pegged back by the Reds till the final minute), the match was turned on its head.

With virtually the last kick of the game, Salomon Kalou swung in a cross from the left and Riise, diving to head clear, succeeded only in diverting the ball into his own net. Anfield fell silent as Liverpool were left to rue what might have been if they had taken their chances well.

Benitez was understandably devastated by the late goal. He was critical of the referee for the amount of added time, but had sympathy for Norwegian defender Riise. He said: “These situations are difficult. You can’t blame the player. Those kind of balls when they bounce are difficult to deal with. We are all very disappointed to concede an own goal so late in the match.”

“But we had three clear chances and in games like these it is hard to create chances. We needed to take them. We have to go to Stamford Bridge and win now. It will be difficult but we have enough confidence in ourselves to do that.”

As for Grant, his tenure has not been convincing even as Chelsea maintained their lofty second place in the Premier League. He believes that the fans and Abramovich will be pleased to be presented with a Champions League final in Moscow but the main issue for them is to fill the trophy cabinets, not fighting all the way to be second best; so far nothing has been won.

Grant was glad to gain the advantage, especially after Benitez had subtly “insulted” his abilities in pre-match interviews. He said: “We want to be in the final. We took a big step today. Drawing 1-1 away from home is always a good advantage. It will be tough in the second game though.

Grant also did not forget to pay tribute to his own tactical brilliance, saying: “When they scored we made some changes. We knew for an away game it was important to score so we used Nicolas (Anelka) and Kalou and changed the midfield and it was a good result for us.”

I feel Torres is not his clinical self in this match. He took too long and too many touches to line up his shot and that gave Cech sufficient time to prepare and to close down his angle. Babel and Kuyt put in the mileage and assists down the flanks well so I had little complaints there.

The turning point for Liverpool was when Fabio Aurelio had to be stretched off and replaced with Riise. Up to this point, Liverpool’s defense was holding up well and fended off Chelsea’s attacks competently.

On the other hand, Chelsea were beset with a malfunctioning midfield. Frank Lampard was too careless in possession and Joe Cole lost his usual trickery and mobility. Michael Ballack was a pedestrian and did not help the team gain possession nor opened up the opponent’s defense. As such, Drogba was deprived of service for long periods to cause any serious damage.

Chelsea love the direct approach, aiming for long balls and hoping for the best. If Drogba can pounce on mistakes, then great, if not, wait for the opponent to attack and then get the defenders to kick the ball up in the air again. Even after Liverpool took the lead, Chelsea looked more interested in doing damage control.

It is clear Grant is relying solely on his players’ qualities to win games. Unlike Mourinho’s era where the team knew what to do and were highly organized, the players were now running the show themselves, without Grant’s direction or advice.

I believe Chelsea are feeling upbeat, not because of the slight advantage but rather they felt that Lady Luck was finally on their side. After suffering semi-final exits at Anfield in two of the last three seasons (Luis Garcia’s ‘phantom goal’ in 2005 and penalty shootouts last season), Grant has a chance to outdo his predecessor, avenge those bitter memories and most importantly, to achieve history for Chelsea FC.

However, it is too early to count the chickens. Though Chelsea have the upper hand, their resources will be stretched thin with a colossal match against Manchester United on Saturday and then a few days after, to face Liverpool again in the second leg. The players will be tired and they are expected to give their all since Chelsea still retain a chance of becoming Premier League champions.

Liverpool can prepare a nice surprise for them with plenty of time on their side as their Premier League fourth spot is almost secured, it will be folly for Chelsea to write off Liverpool.

Soccer Net Live