After their disappointment over the weekend, Manchester United came out steamrolling. Paul Scholes ended his goal drought with a superb volley on fourteen minutes. The Red Devils’ back four did well to hold off the advances of Messi, Eto and Henry to secure a clean sheet and a spot in the finals.
Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2 (AGG: 4-3)
Panned out to be a boring draw between these two English sides, it was nothing short of a miracle to see the excitement and suspense created between the two matches. With John Arne Riise’s last minute own goal in the first leg, the second leg could have been held to a 0-0 draw for Chelsea to still advance, but there’s nothing thrilling in that kind of football. Chelsea decided to come out guns blazing, and dominated the entire first half with Didier Drogba scoring on the 33’. But after halftime, Liverpool seemed like an entirely different squad, scoring on 64’ to even the tie, and then holding Chelsea’s goalscorers to go into extra time. And when Michael Ballack was brought down in the penalty box on 98’, Frank Lampard stepped up to send Reina the opposite way. Lampard pointed to the sky and kissed his black armband in dedication to his mother, then kissed his hand and pointed at his father in the stands. Just before the extra time break, Drogba scored a second to seal Chelsea a solid lead on 105'. But not without the efforts of Babel, who on 117’ slotted a screamer from about 35 yards past Petr Cech to give Liverpool a bit of hope in the dieing minutes. And when the final whistle blew, Chelsea had secured themselves a spot in the final in Moscow... finally.
Link: Lampard Man of Steel as He Helps Chelsea to Dream of Moscow Final (this article totally brought me to tears)
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