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Wednesday, May 04, 2005
It's a proud night for Liverpool after Luis Garcia's first half goal gave us victory over Chelsea and we marched towards the European Champions Cup Final. The Reds had to defend resolutely after Garcia's early strike gave them the edge, but Chelsea's Premiership winning bubble was well and truly burst on an emotionally charged night at Anfield. I am so happy that Chelsea are finally gone! Let us enjoy a great night's celebration before we tune in tonight to check out if the final is against AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven.

The sheer velocity of the home support spurred Liverpool into a coat-throat opening that brought them the crucial goal. Only 3 minutes had passed when Gerrard's flick sent Baros surging clear. He appeared to be brought down by Cech as he prodded the ball past him, but cries for a penalty were quickly replaced by screams of joy as Luis Garcia raced in to put the ball in the Kop net. Garcia's goal was the only notable goal action in a first half that saw Chelsea push Liverpool back, but fail to trouble Jerzy Dudek.

As expected the second half was a nervy affair. But the Liverpool defence and goalkeeper refused to give way to Chelsea's wave after wave of attacks. Dudek needed to be at his best on 67 minutes to make a smart save from Lampard. But for the most part he was excellently protected by a backline marshalled superbly by Carragher and Hyypia. For all the Chelsea pressure though Liverpool showed they still had an attacking threat of their own and Cisse almost made the game safe with a header that Cech was forced to save. He had an even better chance in stoppage time, and it created a nail bitting moment in the dying minutes where Chelsea nearly scored. But in the end it didn't matter and it will be Liverpool and not Chelsea who will carry the hopes of England into the final.

Well done Liverpool, especially Carragher and Hyypia, the forgotten heroes in defense!
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