Riise's Calamity Gives Chelsea the Upper Hand

The roars of the Anfield crowd at the close were solely of defiance. Lesser supporters would have been struck dumb by John Arne Riise's own-goal equalizer for Chelsea four minutes into stoppage time that, improbably after this showing, makes the visitors favorites to stride on to a Champions League final against Barcelona or Manchester United in Moscow.

With one substitute, Salomon Kalou, and another, Nicolas Anelka, hovering, a third, the Liverpool left-back Riise, headed past his own goalkeeper. Moments before Fernando Torres had been close to giving the home side a 2-0 lead that would surely have been fatal to Chelsea and to the future of Avram Grant. The drama of the ending had developed from humble origins in this fixture.

The game, for a long spell, was a clumsy forgery of the semi-final fixtures here in 2005 and 2007. They, too, were far from flawless, but had urgency because something had to be decided on those nights. This year the outcome is to be reached at Stamford Bridge. Some of the major figures acted as if, unconsciously, they were holding something in reserve until the deadlock was broken.

The tone did not shift until the half-hour. Steven Gerrard had been keeping a low profile but in the 31st minute he snapped a pass that freed Torres, another sticking to a minor role until then. Uncharacteristically, the finish was misdirected and rose before banging off the torso of the Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech.

All the same, Liverpool were starting to pin down Chelsea. The side may be fourth in the Premier League but Rafael Benítez is correct in the assertion that he has a far higher standard of footballer at Anfield these days. The visitors were tense and Ashley Cole, after 39 minutes, lost the ball to Dirk Kuyt and had to depend on a hurried clearance from Ricardo Carvalho.

The visitors had grown unkempt then and fell behind messily. Two minutes from half-time, Frank Lampard, returning to the line-up following the illness to his mother that kept him out for a couple of games, was caught in possession by the foraging Kuyt on the fringes of the box. Javier Mascherano sent the Dutchman into the area and, despite Claude Makelele's effort to rescue the situation, knocked the ball through the legs of Cech.

There have been drab times for Kuyt in domestic competition but seven of his 11 goals for Liverpool this season have now come in the Champions League. It was a lopsided record to treasure on an occasion such as this. There had been earlier openings but he could not quite connect with a through ball from Xabi Alonso in the 13th minute that then broke off Cech.

The Chelsea manager, Grant, had wished for his squad to treat this meeting with Liverpool as the equivalent of an ordinary Premier League match, where they have usually come off best. His players, though, did not look relaxed. When Alvaro Arbeloa gave the ball away to Lampard in the 21st minute, the midfielder found Joe Cole, but the attacker sought to finish first-time and merely scuffed the ball with his outstretched boot.

There was a heavy burden of history pressing down on the fixture and everyone involved in it but no one had anything rash in mind. The assumption seemed to be that the performances here were merely opening statements in a case where the verdict lies a week away. The Liverpool manager, Benítez, was in a precautionary mood that, in truth, does descend on him with regularity. Sami Hyypia was on the bench, probably because of reservations over both his fitness and his capacity for containing Didier Drogba, who has caused him anguish in the past.

Any threat from the visitors had been spasmodic prior to the interval, while Liverpool were developing a more concerted performance. It owed something to the grip gradually taken in midfield by Mascherano and Alonso.

Had Grant not been caught up in the contest, and the necessity of somehow altering his character, he would have had to ponder another impending burst of doubts about his suitability for matches at this level and, in consequence, for the post he holds. By then, there was no denying that Chelsea were being outplayed.

There was no outlet for them in attack when Drogba was usually passive and, conceivably, disillusioned. Liverpool encountered disruption merely when an achilles injury saw Fabio Aurelio borne away on a stretcher before Riise took over at left-back. The visitors were far more disrupted, although the cause lay in the absence of pattern or rhythm. Grant had every reason to replace Joe Cole with Kalou.

When Michael Ballack did get his head to a Lampard free-kick the ball flew straight to the goalkeeper Jose Reina, but a few moments later Liverpool were reminded how easily their ascendancy could be undermined. For once the passes rippled for Chelsea, with Ballack finding Lampard, who slipped the ball in behind Arbeloa. Malouda's attempt was then blocked.

Liverpool almost seemed to have a shift of attitude, as if reckoning that the moment had come to cherish the 1-0 advantage and ensure that it came to no harm. That stance had seen them take the Merseyside derby here by the identical margin. Chelsea were still to prove they had something more to offer than Everton.

Reprieved at the very end, Chelsea, against all odds, will sense impending glory in this tie.