Chelsea and Liverpool win - Chelsea 2 Besiktas 0 and Liverpool 4 Arsenal 2

Posted by bumeral

April 8, 2008

Liverpool, England - Steven Gerrard and Ryan Babel scored in the final minutes as Liverpool beat Arsenal, 4-2, in another classic Champions League battle Tuesday at Anfield to advance to the semifinals.

Liverpool, which was in danger of being eliminated in the 84th minute, rallied on a penalty kick from Gerrard and then secured a spot in the semifinals on an extra-time goal from Babel.

Liverpool won the series on aggregate, 5-3, and plays another English Premier League rival, Chelsea, in the semifinals. Chelsea defeated Fenerbahce, 2-0, to overcome a first-leg deficit and advance on aggregate, 3-2.Late goals from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Wayne Bridge gave Chelsea a comfortable win over Besiktas and confirmed Claudio Ranieri’s side as Group G winners.

The match had been switched to Germany because of security concerns in the wake of the bombings in Istanbul.

But Chelsea still faced an intimidating atmosphere after 51,000 Besiktas fans crammed into the Aufschalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen.

Hasselbaink eventually silenced the ‘home’ supporters when he found the net on 77 minutes before Wayne Bridge doubled the lead with five minutes left.

Hasselbaink, restored to the Chelsea line-up in the absence of the injured Hernan Crespo, was subjected to some rugged defending.

Besiktas forward Ilhan Mansiz was also in the wars, needing running repairs for a head wound after jumping for the ball with John Terry.

Arsenal led 1-0 on Abou Diaby’s goal in the 13th minute, then after allowing a pair of goals, tied the match on Emmanuel Adebayor’s goal in the 84th minute - which would have been enough to advance on away goals.

But Gerrard converted a penalty kick just over a minute after Adebayor’s goal, then Babel finished a breakaway in extra time to give Liverpool the only win in the teams’ three meetings in the last week.

Liverpool and Arsenal tied the first leg 1-1 last week and tied their English Premier match Saturday 1-1.

Arsenal got off to a perfect start when Diaby scored less than 13 minutes into the match.

The French international midfielder ran onto a short pass from Aleksandr Hleb in the penalty area and, with a pair of Liverpool defenders closing the angle, drilled a shot that skimmed off of goalie Pepe Reina and inside the near post.

Diaby’s second Champions League goal gave Arsenal a 2-1 edge in aggregate, but the lead didn’t last long.

Liverpool’s Fabio Aurelio helped earn a corner in the 30th minute when a cross deflected off an Arsenal player and forced goalie Manuel Almunia to divert it wide.

Off the corner kick taken by captain Gerrard, Hyypia shook off his defender to get free in the area. Hyypia then headed off the right post, just over Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, and into the net.

Liverpool sensation Fernando Torres handed his side the lead in the 69th on a great effort in the box where he turned to loose two defenders and fired into the upper left corner.

Torres’ 29th goal in all competitions this season gave Liverpool the 3-2 edge in aggregate, but also meant all Arsenal needed was a 2-2 draw to advance.

Adebayor nearly delivered the equalizer in the 73rd minute when he had a one- on-one chance, but fired wide of the right post and put his hands on his head in disgust.

But frustration turned to excitement in the 84th minute when Theo Walcott made a brilliant run - covering nearly the entire field - and set up Adebayor for a simple tap-in goal.

Walcott, a teenage England international, picked the ball up just outside the penalty area and lost four defenders during his long run, which ended with the perfect pass to Adebayor.

Less than a minute later, though, Arsenal’s emotions took another quick turn. Off the restart, Babel was breaking loose in the area but was fouled by Kolo Toure and was awarded a penalty kick.

Gerrard converted with precision, firing an unstoppable rocket into the upper left corner. Almunia even guessed the right way, but had no chance to get to the perfectly-placed shot.

Babel took all the suspense out of the final seconds by running onto a pass in midfield and taking the ball into the box before scoring into the lower right.

Chelsea got off to a perfect start against Fenerbahce on German international Michael Ballack’s goal in the fourth minute. Ballack scored off a header and the one goal was all Chelsea needed to advance based on away goals.

Frank Lampard, who assisted Ballack’s goal, put the finishing touches on the victory with a goal in the 87th minute.

On Wednesday, Roma will try to overcome a two-goal deficit when it visits Old Trafford for the second leg at Manchester United. Schalke trails 1-0 entering the second leg of its series at Barcelona.

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