Liverpool v Chelsea: Riise Heads Own Goal in Injury Time
April 22, 2008 by CLDsport
The fixture of the night has ended as a 1-1 draw (as predicted by CLDsport earlier!). But, it was very close to being a Liverpool win.
Almost as expected, the opening 15 minutes were a little scrappy with neither side grabbing the initiative. Chelsea looked to be a bit more organised, but were certainly not playing awe inspiring football.
The best chance was presented to Fernando Torres in the 20th minute, but the in form striker failed to take advantage and Chelsea survived.
The balance of play swung from team to team, but neither Liverpool nor Chelsea could take the game by the scruff of the neck and dominate play for any length of time. The midfield was messy and certainly not attractive.
As the match was approaching the much needed half-time interval, Liverpool broke the deadlock through Dirk Kuyt. Frank Lampard was caught in possession (while possibly pondering his future) just outside the box and lost possession to Kuyt, who found Xabi Alonso. Alonso backheeled the ball to Mascherano, and his poor mis-hit shot looped into the box. Makelele failed to clear and as a result, Dirk Kuyt pokes the ball past a diving Petr Cech.
A relatively disappointing first half came to an end with Liverpool 1-0 up.
The second half began similarly to the first. Both teams showed moments of inspiration, but the final pass was non-existent. The best chance of the second half fell to Steven Gerrard. His volley from the edge of the box was heading for the top right hand corner - and forced a world class save from Cech.
As the game reached the 90th minute it looked as though Liverpool would be taking a lead to Stamford Bridge next Wednesday. But, in the 94th minute, substitute Soloman Kalou whipped over a cross from the left. The cross looked to be a good one, right into the danger area and heading towards two blue shirts - a defender’s worst nightmare. John Arne Riise defended the cross with a diving header towards his own goal. Unfortunately for him - and Liverpool - the ball flew off his head into the top right hand side of the net. 1-1.
Riise and the Liverpool players looked absolutely distraught as the Chelsea team celebrated. Avram Grant was certainly enjoying himself as the final whistle was blown. He was caught on camera laughing - which to me is a very unprofessional response from a ’supposedly’ top flight manager.
It’s unclear what Grant was finding so funny. His team did not perform well and will have to improve if they are to go through to the final next week. As Mark Lawrenson said on BBC Radio 5 Live:
“Chelsea didn’t play well and I think Avram Grant made mistakes in the second half. But they’ve got an away goal. A 0-0 at home and they go through.”
That statement pretty much sums up the situation! Click Here For Highlights
[...] remembered for the disastrous own goal he scored against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final (click here for a reminder!). Despite this, the Norwegian has clocked up over 300 appearances for Liverpool, and helped them win [...]