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| Liverpool 1 - 1 Chelsea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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REDS
HELD BY HARSH PENALTY A wrongly awarded second half penalty, scored by Frank Lampard, has cancelled out Fernando Torres' first competitive Liverpool goal and denied the Reds all three points after Chelsea held them to a 1-1 in Sunday's Premiership clash at Anfield. The Reds had taken a deserved first half lead when Torres beat Cech with a superbly placed shot, but they were rocked when referee Rob Styles adjudged that Finnan had fouled Malouda in the box and Frank Lampard scored from the penalty spot to equalize. Liverpool did create chances to retake the lead and it took a fine save from Cech to deny Kuyt's header, but Rafa's men will be disappointed not have to taken all three points after television replays proved Chelsea's lifeline was an extremely harsh decision. Liverpool couldn't have been given a harder assignment for their first home game of the campaign than last season's deposed Champions Chelsea, but they came into the game full of confidence, brought by two wins in a week against Aston Villa and Toulouse. Rafa Benitez's summer transfers has given the Reds plenty of strength in depth for this year and he again made the most of his large squad, recalling Xabi Alonso to partner Steven Gerrard in midfield; and also reuniting Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres in attack after they made an impressive start together at Villa Park. When we got under way, it was Liverpool who threatened first when Pennant's cross found Riise well placed only for him to mis-control. And but for a Drogba shot that went well wide, the early stages belonged to Rafa's men and they confirmed their superiority when Fernando Torres gave them the lead with a fine goal. Reds skipper Steven Gerrard was playing through the pain barrier today after suffering a hairline fracture of his toe against Toulouse, but you wouldn't have known it when he sprang to life and played a brilliant pass into the channel for Torres. Anfield waited as Torres went one on one with Ben-Haim and the young Spaniard didn't disappoint as he swept passed the Chelsea defender and placed the ball beyond Cech and into the net. It was a brilliant goal from Torres on his Anfield debut. Chelsea almost hit back straight away when a dangerous Didier Drogba free-kick from 20 yards was deflected only narrowly wide; and they came more into the game as the first half wore on. The visitors almost getting themselves level when Terry just failed to connect with the ball at the far post, but Liverpool will feel they'd done enough to warrant their lead at the break. The second half started with Chelsea initially in the ascendancy with Mikel and Pizarro both wasting good headed chances. But Liverpool were soon back on top and they produced an excellent chance for Alonso that he dragged wide. Liverpool were building a head of steam and you felt sure a second would come, but they were rocked when referee Rob Styles gave Chelsea a route back into the game in the 62nd minute when he adjudged that Steve Finnan had fouled Florent Malouda in the penalty area. The injustice of the decision was proven by television replays, but Chelsea accepted their gift when Lampard beat Reina from the spot to make it 1-1. To their credit, Liverpool picked themselves straight back up and they again went in search of a second goal, only this time it was to take the lead. They came close just after the hour when Riise fizzed a volley just wide of the angle, but Chelsea shut up shop and chances were hard to come by, a Kuyt header that brought a good save from Cech was the closest Liverpool came to restoring their advantage that had wrongly taken away from them. Teams Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Agger, Carragher, Finnan, Riise, Alonso, Gerrard, Pennant, Kuyt, Torres. Subs - Babel, Crouch, Hyypia, Itandje, Mascherano. Chelsea: Cech, Cole, Haim, Terry, Obi Mikel, Malouda, Essien, Lampard, Wright-Phillips, Drogba, Kalou. Subs - Cole, Cudicini, Makelele, Pizarro. Referee: Rob Styles Conditions: Unavailable Attendance: Unavailable Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Steven Gerrard Copyright of Official Site Liverpool FC |
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Price: J3,00