The Hindu : Sport : Liverpool makes Chelsea pay the penalty

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Thursday, May 03, 2007
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Liverpool makes Chelsea pay the penalty

Pepe Reina is the hero for the Reds with some crucial saves

Liverpool: Dirk Kuyt scored the winner and Liverpool beat Chelsea 4-1 on penalty kicks on Tuesday to advance to the final of the Champions League for the second time in three years.

The match went to a shootout with the aggregate score tied at 1-1 after Liverpool led 1-0 at the end of regular and extra time in the second leg, with a goal in the 23rd minute by Daniel Agger.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina saved the first and third Chelsea penalties from Arjen Robben and Geremi.

Boudewijn Zenden, substitute Xabi Alonso and captain Steven Gerrard also converted their penalty kicks for Liverpool.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said he thought his team would win the shootout.

"We had confidence because we had players who practise in every training session, they like to do it," Benitez said.

Kuyt also had a goal disqualified in the 10th minute of extra time and Peter Cech saved his powerful shot with only one minute to go.

Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005 — also on penalty kicks — against Milan.

Mourinho's praise

Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said his was the better team.

"Everybody has to try to be strong, I think they have a lot of reasons to be proud of themselves," Mourinho said. "They were the best team today. In extra time we were the only team which tried to win, but football is like that and the penalty shootout is part of the game."

This is the third time Chelsea has exited the Champions League semifinals. It was beaten by Liverpool in 2005 and by Monaco in 2004.

Liverpool, watched by American owners George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks, led 1-0 at the end of regular time, thanks to Agger's goal when the Reds took advantage of poor marking by Chelsea.

Instead of sending the ball into the penalty box, Gerrard squared the free kick to Agger who was unmarked one metre inside the area. The Denmark defender flicked the ball with his first touch low inside Cech's right post for his first Champions League goal.

Chelsea's first threatening effort came in the 32nd when John Obi Mikel picked out Didier Drogba in space, but the Ivory Coast striker struck straight at Reina who did well to block the powerful shot.

In the 39th, Drogba headed wide off a corner from Frank Lampard.

Lampard swung a ball into the area on the stroke of half time, which Reina punched clear.

Liverpool positive

The game maintained its high tempo after the restart, with the Reds looking more likely to find a winning goal.

Crouch used his height to connect with Pennant's looping cross in the 56th. Cech reacted quickly with his feet to deny the lanky striker and Chelsea captain John Terry kicked the ball clear.

Three minutes later, Dirk Kuyt headed against the crossbar.

After Liverpool's dominance, Ashley Cole surged down the left flank in the 75th, but when he sent the ball into the box Jamie Carragher got in front of Drogba to clear.

Chelsea was missing striker Andriy Shevchenko, who denied reports that he refused to travel with the team and watched from the stands. Midfielder Michael Ballack was missing after an ankle operation.

Rude shock

Meanwhile, as Reina was performing his heroics, burglars ransacked the Spaniard's Merseyside home.

Reina returned home to find that thieves had made off with jewellery, a top-of-the-range audio-visual system and his Porsche Cayenne car, local police said. The sports car was later found burnt out in another area of the city.

The robbery was the latest in a series of incidents in which footballers have been targeted, often while they have been playing matches.

The result: UEFA Champions League semifinal second leg: Liverpool 1 (Agger) bt Chelsea 0, Liverpool won 4-1 on penalties. — AP

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