{"id":2931,"date":"2008-04-09T05:04:06","date_gmt":"2008-04-09T05:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/sports-news\/arsenal-melt-in-anfield-furnace\/2931\/"},"modified":"2008-04-09T05:04:06","modified_gmt":"2008-04-09T05:04:06","slug":"arsenal-melt-in-anfield-furnace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/uk-news\/arsenal-melt-in-anfield-furnace\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal melt in Anfield furnace"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Ducker<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>England is guaranteed at least one representative in the Champions League final for the fourth successive season after another night on which the Barclays Premier League strengthened its claim to being the best in Europe.<\/p>\n

For the third time in four seasons Liverpool will meet Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Continent\u2019s premier club competition after Rafael Ben\u00c3\u00adtez\u2019s team produced one of their finest performances of a turbulent campaign to come from behind to beat Arsenal 4-2 at a raucous Anfield for an outstanding 5-3 aggregate victory.<\/p>\n

With Chelsea having overturned a 2-1 deficit to beat Fenerbah\u00c3\u00a7e 3-2 on aggregate at Stamford Bridge, Avram Grant, the first-team coach, will try to succeed where Jos\u00c3\u00a9 Mourinho twice failed by overcoming a Liverpool team for whom Europe continues to provide a remarkable sanctuary.<\/p>\n

But there was no doubting who provided the entertainment \u2013 and controversy. Having led 1-0 through Abou Diaby\u2019s early strike only to trail 2-1, Arsenal appeared to have settled the tie on away goals with six minutes left when Theo Walcott raced almost the length of the pitch to set up Emmanuel Adebayor, who made amends for a bad miss moments earlier.<\/p>\n

Within two minutes Liverpool, willed on by their magnificent support, had scored a disputed third when Ryan Babel, an inspired substitute, tumbled in the penalty area after tangling with Kolo Tour\u00c3\u00a9. Steven Gerrard made no mistake from the spot before Babel added a fourth at the death, but Ars\u00c3\u00a8ne Wenger was infuriated by the decision of Peter Fr\u00c3\u00b6jdfeldt, the referee, to award the penalty.<\/p>\n

The Arsenal manager, who insisted that his team should have been awarded a penalty in the first leg, said: \u201cThe game was over \u2013 it was down to a dodgy decision and to a lack of concentration at 2-2. Over the two games it\u2019s very difficult to swallow. All the big decisions went against us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u00c3\u00adtez, who praised \u201cthe belief and character of our players\u201d, claimed not to have seen the penalty incident, but Gerrard was not about to moan. \u201cIt was probably one of the worst performances I have had in a Liverpool shirt, but I was confident I would score the penalty,\u201d the Liverpool captain said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great team performance and when we defend like that, other teams find it impossible. We\u2019ve got some big league games coming up, but we\u2019ll be ready for Chelsea.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Chelsea had overcome Fenerbah\u00c3\u00a7e with goals from Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard, Grant said: \u201cI\u2019ve said all along we can do good things. We can win the competition. We\u2019re very close.\u201d But with Petr Cech out for two weeks, Grant\u2019s joy was tempered by a hamstring injury to Carlo Cudicini, who was replaced by Hil\u00c3\u00a1rio, the third-choice goalkeeper, in the first half. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t look so good,\u201d Grant said of Cudicini\u2019s injury.<\/p>\n

It means that Rhys Taylor, the youth-team goalkeeper who has not made a first-team appearance and turned 18 on Monday, is likely to be involved in three matches in four days next week: on the bench against Wigan Athletic and Everton on Monday and Thursday and playing in the FA Youth Cup final, second leg away to Manchester City on Wednesday. \u201cHe\u2019s a good goalkeeper,\u201d Grant said.<\/p>\n