Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Liverpol 1 : Torres 6'
Chelsea 3 : Ivanovic 39',62',Drogba 67'
Chelsea blew away on form liverpool by beating them 3-1 at anfield tonight a surprise double from defender Ivanovic got chelsea well on the way to the next round. Torres put liverpool in front but chelsea come storming back and in full command of the tie with a home leg to come.The Serb defender, who was only in the side due to the absence of the injured Jose Bosingwa was the unheard hero of the game.
It was liverpool who came flying out of the blocks torres finished wonderfully from Alvaro Arbeloa’s cross after good work by Kuyt.But the turning point of the game - and defining moment of the tie - came when minutes Ivanovic escaped Xabi Alonso, got in between two defenders and met a corner with a firm header past Reina.Then Ivanovic netted again for his second of the night - and his second career Chelsea goal too rock Liverpool.
Five minutes later, and Chelsea put he icing on the cake via Drogba’s close range finish following a lovely passing move to which Liverpool simply had no answer.Liverpool sent on Ryan Babel for Lucas and Andrea Dossena for an out-of-touch Aurelio, who had just been booked. Drogba went off to a great ovation from the travelling support, allowing Nicolas Anelka into the fray.Rafa will have to do mission impossable to turn this one around in next weeks return leg at stamford bridge.
I felt we started really well, and after that we were not playing well, giving the ball away,” Benitez told Sky Sports.
“They were passing the ball well and we lost against a good team because they played well and we didn’t play to our level.”
Benitez’ side conceded two goals from set-pieces with the much-maligned ‘zonal’ marking system seemingly at fault - but he insisted that was not the case.
“Again when you are working man to man, you concede, but they are strong in the air and we conceded,” he said - also insisting that Chelsea’s decision to man-mark Steven Gerrard was not a major factor on the result.
boxofficefootball.com