FOrtune favours the BRAVE

FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE


HE HAS BROUGHT THE CLUB TO ITS HEIGHT OF BEING BEST IN THE BUSINESS.
HE IS THE MOTIVATIONAL FACTOR OF THE TEAM
HIS POWER SHOTS, HIS ACCURATE PASSING AND HIS LEADERSHIP


STEVEN GERRARD today paid tribute to his Liverpool team-mates and told them they can be proud of their efforts despite being denied a place in the European Cup final by Chelsea.

THE sight of a diving Didier Drogba had infuriated Rafael Benitez last week. At Stamford Bridge last night, it left everyone at Liverpool deflated.

Hopes of an eighth European Cup final for the Anfield outfit and a showdown with bitter rivals Manchester United were extinguished by the Ivorian.

Drogba stayed on his feet long enough to score in both normal time and extra time on a dramatic evening as Liverpool failed to register a hat-trick of Champions League semi-final victories against the Londoners.

“Fortune favours the brave” declared one of the many Liverpool flags to adorn the away end. The fates, however, decreed Chelsea would be on the way to Moscow on May 21.

From John Arne Riise’s calamitous injury-time own goal last week to the fact it was a grieving Frank Lampard who stroked home the decisive second Chelsea goal from the penalty spot last night, the feeling persists it couldn’t have been scripted any better for Avram Grant’s team.

Third time lucky, then, for Chelsea. For Liverpool, though, the season is now over before May for the first time under Benitez, and the spotlight will inevitably return to the boardroom civil war that is sullying the club’s reputation and may even cost them their manager this summer.

Benitez has few peers on a tactical level in Europe but he might well be advised to keep his counsel on opposing players in future.

The Spaniard was entirely right with his comments bemoaning Drogba’s tendency to fall over at the merest hint of a challenge.

However, those words served only to fire up the Chelsea striker who justified the remainder of Benitez’s assessment that Drogba is a fantastic player, celebrating his first goal by diving headfirst towards the corner flag.

Even when subsequently shackled by the excellent Jamie Carragher, Drogba still managed to net the third and decisive Chelsea goal late on, the extra-time period an echo of the Carling Cup final in 2005.

Indeed, Drogba has a photo of Benitez stuck above his peg in the Chelsea dressing room before the game.

At least Liverpool prevented their barren run at this venue being extended to a ninth game.

Fernando Torres’s 64th-minute goal had sent the game into an extra period, but the striker, struggling with a hamstring injury, was otherwise subdued and off the field when his replacement, Ryan Babel, made the end interesting with a fifth Champions League goal late on.

Liverpool , though, can have few complaints about a defeat which underlines that while they can take on all-comers from the Continent, their main rivals closer to home remain far more troublesome.

The visitors showed character to fight back in the second half after being outplayed for the first 45 minutes, skipper Steven Gerrard rousing his troops and Javier Mascherano finding his feet in midfield, but their failure to convert first-leg dominance into more goals ultimately proved their undoing.

It was unfair that it should be stalwart Sami Hyypia that needlessly conceded the penalty from which Lampard put Chelsea ahead in extra-time.

Hyypia, who had claims for a spot-kick of his own late on when seemingly upended by Drogba, was only on the field because of an injury to Martin Skrtel that forced the Slovakian off midway through the first half and handed Chelsea another advantage.

Despite the home fans being supplied with 30,000 plastic flags and ordered to generate an atmosphere, Stamford Bridge remains as intimidating as a sponge.

That would accurately describe the consistency of the pitch last night, the persistent rain that fell over West London for much of the previous 24 hours rarely abating and ensuring treacherous conditions throughout. With Fabio Aurelio having sustained a season-ending injury during the first leg, Benitez kept faith in Riise, the only other change from last week’s meeting seeing Yossi Benayoun preferred to Babel.

Lampard returned for Chelsea after missing their title-enhancing 2-1 win over United on Saturday following the death of his mother.

And the England international was instrumental in the opening goal on 33 minutes. His pass to the suspiciously offside Kalou was helped into the path of the Ivorian by Alvaro Arbeloa’s attempted clearance and, after Reina had parried the winger’s angled drive, Drogba smashed home the rebound from the angle.

Drogba had earlier spurned a good chance when dragging his shot wide from a Lampard pass with an unmarked Joe Cole screaming for a square pass.

It was a merited half-ime lead as Liverpool, although enjoying greater possession, struggled to do anything of note with it.

Chelsea had clearly been instructed to take advantage of the greasy playing surface with Drogba, Michael Essien and Ballack all forcing Reina into saves from range.

Ballack also curled a free-kick wide, with Liverpool’s only opening coming in the ninth minute when Gerrard played in Torres but the Spaniard took an unnecessary touch allowing Petr Cech to smother his near-post effort.

Indeed, the highlight of the opening period for the travelling support was the sight of a determined Gerrard shoving Chelsea manager Grant back into his seat as he attempted to retrieve the ball for a throw-in.

Liverpool were the better team after the break, Gerrard heading down to Kuyt inside the area but the Dutchman’s flick with the outside of his right foot was saved by the outstretched leg of Cech.

And Benitez’s side drew level on 64 minutes thanks to a tactical switch from the manager and a trademark piece of opportunism from Torres.

Benayoun had just moments earlier exchanged flanks with Kuyt when he moved inside off the right wing, ghosted between Drogba and Kalou and then slipped a perfect pass in for Torres to finish sidefooted past Cech into the bottom corner.

The visitors remained the more purposeful but Chelsea were next to threaten, Essien too greedy when shooting into the side-netting from an acute angle after a powerful run down the right.

Extra-time was eventful. Chelsea did well to clear a dangerous Riise cross, Carragher even better with a saving tackle to deny Drogba and the Ivorian was one of several players rightly flagged offside when Essien thrashed home from the edge of the area before sprinting away to salute a goal that had already been chalked off.

Chelsea , though, were celebrating legitimately on 97 minutes when a tired Hyypia challenge inside the area dumped Ballack to the turf and Lampard tucked confidently home from the spot.

Drogba appeared to have made the game safe on 105 minutes when he converted substitute Nicolas Anelka’s cross, but a bad mistake from Cech to let in Babel’s speculative 30-yard effort set up a grandstand finish. However, it was to no avail. Liverpool were beaten but unbowed. That sixth European Cup will have to wait.

THIS MAY BE THE END OF A FURIOUS RUN OF THE REDS IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BUT THERE HOPES IN EPL ARE STILL ALIVE.....