Liverpool delighted, whilst Chelsea stumble
by Khilen Mehta
The first legs of the quarter final stages of the Champions League were completed last night, and it is Liverpool who came away with a slight advantage over rivals Arsenal.
In the first of three games in a row against the Gunners, this result was always going to have a psychological sting and Liverpool will be the happier team, after coming away from the Emirates Stadium with an away goal.
Adebayor gave Arsenal a deserved lead from a Robin Van Persie corner, but three minutes later Liverpool were level following some fantastic play by their own captain fantastic, Steven Gerrard, who ghosted past the Arsenal defence and layed the ball for Dirka Dirka Kuyt to slot in.
Arsenal were the better side throughout, but just couldn’t convert their chances. They were not helped by a terrible refereeing decision, when Kuyt clearly dragged Hleb back by the arm as he raced into the area. Arsenal were understandably furious when Dutch referee Pieter Vink ignored their appeals.
It was clearly not Arsenal’s night, especially when a goalbound shot by Fabregas was cleared off the line by Nicolas Bendtner: their own player!! So the two teams meet again at Anfield next Tuesday with the tie still open but Liverpool the slight bookmakers’ favourites.
The other game of the night involved Chelsea travelling to Istanbul to take on Fenerbache in what was guaranteed to be an intimidating and daunting atmosphere. In a one sided first half, Chelsea took the lead when Deived inadvertently turned a Florent Malouda cross into his own net. However, in the second half, Fenerbache levelled through Colin Kazim Richards, once of Bury and Brighton, and Chelsea were soon silenced when Deived made amends for his early error to win the game with a superb 30-yard strike into the top corner.
This tie is also far from over yet, but Chelsea have a lot of work to do to stay in the competition.
Tags: Arsenal, Champions League, English football, Football Results, Liverpool