ARSENAL 1(Adebayor 23) LIVERPOOL 1(Dirk Kuyt 26)
London: Arsenal and Liverpool drew 1-1 in an end-to-end Champions League quarter-final first leg match at the Emirates Stadium. Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor headed Arsenal in front after 23 minutes when he rose unchallenged to power the ball past keeper Pepe Reina from close range. Arsenal’s joy was shortlived, however, as Liverpool equalised in the 26th minute when captain Steven Gerrard surged past three defenders wide on the left and crossed for Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt to slide home. Wednesday’s match was the first of three between the teams inside seven days. The game had all the power, speed and high tempo play typical of the Premier League and while Arsenal created the better chances, Liverpool defended superbly. Their only slip was to leave Adebayor free to score his 24th goal of the season and his second in successive games in the Champions League. Robin van Persie had a great chance to put Arsenal ahead after 20 minutes when he found himself in space and onside after escaping his markers after collecting a 50-metre pass from Mathieu Flamini. Somehow though, with only Reina to beat, he sent a left-foot volley high over the bar. Two minutes later he forced Reina into a low dive to his left to force a corner—from which Arsenal scored. Van Persie’s cross found the unmarked Adebayor and the tall striker rose unchallenged to powerfully head home. Gerrard, who had an outstanding game, provided a quick response with the cross for Kuyt who nipped in between Philippe Senderos and Gael Clichy to equalise. Arsenal appeared to have legitimate claims for a penalty denied when Kuyt seemed to pull back Aleksandr Hleb’s left shoulder inside the box. Dutch referee Pieter Vink, who did not need to use cards throughout the game, waved play on. Liverpool were fortunate twice in the space of five minutes midway through the second half. Defender Martin Skrtel cleared an Emmanuel Eboue shot off the line and a shot from Cesc Fabregas hit Arsenal team mate Nicklas Bendtner standing on the Liverpool goal-line.
TEAMS:
Arsenal: 24-Manuel Almunia; 5-Kolo Toure, 10-William Gallas, 6-Philippe Senderos, 22-Gael Clichy; 27-Emmanuel Eboue (26-Nicklas Bendtner 67), 16-Mathieu Flamini, 4-Cesc Fabregas, 13-Aleksandr Hleb; 11-Robin van Persie (32-Theo Walcott 46), 25-Emmanuel Adebayor.
Liverpool: 25-Pepe Reina; 23-Jamie Carragher, 37-Martin Skrtel, 4-Sami Hyypia, 12-Fabio Aurelio; 8-Steven Gerrard, 20-Javier Mascherano, 14-Xabi Alonso (21-Lucas Leiva 76); 19-Ryan Babel (11-Yossi Benayoun 58), 18-Dirk Kuyt; 9-Fernando, Torres (10-Andriy Voronin 86).
FENERBAHCE 2(Kazim-Kazim 65, Deivid 81) CHELSEA 1(Deivid 13 own goal)
Istanbul:Fenerbahce midfielder Deivid went from zero to hero as his side came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal, first leg. Deivid had looked like the villain of the peace when he gifted Chelsea the lead with an early own goal at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium. But the Turkish champions snatched an equaliser through Colin Kazim-Kazim midway through the second half and Deivid made amends for his earlier blunder with a breathtaking winner nine minutes from full-time. As the club's volatile fans crammed into the stadium hours before kick-off, it was easy to see why they were unbeaten in the last 11 home European matches. In such a seething cauldron of noise, Chelsea's stars made an assured start and scored with their first serious attack in the 13th minute. Frank Lampard cleverly dummied Ashley Cole's pass, allowing Florent Malouda to find space on the left side of the penalty area. He drove a low cross towards Didier Drogba and Deivid tried to clear but only succeeded in deflecting the ball past by wrong-footed keeper Volkan Demirel into his own net. Confidence now flowing, Michael Essien almost doubled Chelsea's lead moments later with a swerving 25-yard strike that skimmed the crossbar. Drogba's muscular presence unsettled Zico's team time and again. Michael Ballack had yards of space to produce a majestic defence-splitting pass to Drogba. The Ivorian striker was only denied a goal by Demirel's charge from his line. Kazim-Kazim was an unlikely saviour for Fenerbahce. He was called Kazim-Richards when he was bought by Brighton with a transfer fee donated by a fan but changed his name after moving to Turkey last year. Fenerbahce equalised as Grant's side were caught sleeping at the back in the 65th minute. Mehmet Aurelio's pass cut out Chelsea's centre-backs and Kazim-Kazim timed his run perfectly before lashing it past Cudicini.And there seemed little danger when Deivid took possession 30 yards out in the 81st minute. He quickly disproved that theory with a stunning strike that arrowed into the top corner.
TEAMS:
Fenerbahce: 1-Volkan Demirel; 19-Onder Turaci, 2-Lugano, 36-Edu, 6-Gokcek Vederson; 33-Claudio Maldonado, 15-Mehmet Aurelio, 25-Ugur Boral (8-Colin Kazim-Richards 54); 99-Deivid, 9-Mateja Kezman (23-Semih Senturk 72), 20-Alex
Chelsea: 23-Carlo Cudicini; 5-Michael Essien, 26-John Terry, 6-Ricardo Carvalho, 3-Ashley Cole; 13-Michael Ballack, 4-Claude Makelele, 8-Frank Lampard (12-John Obi Mikel 76); 15-Florent Malouda, 11-Didier Drogba, 10-Joe Cole (39-Nicolas Anelka 86).
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