Liverpool 1-0 (aet)

Independent:

Branislav Ivanovic seals classic encounter with extra-time header to send Blues to Wembley
Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0 (aet; Chelsea win 2-1 on aggregate)

Sam Wallace

It just about summed up the tension on a night when the modern rivalry between these two clubs was born anew with a great snarling tear-up of open attacking football, and random acts of violence provided by Diego Costa. Not so much random as deftly calculated: two stamps on Emre Can and Martin Skrtel, executed with the precision of the assassin and out of the scope of referee Michael Oliver’s vision.
He should have been sent off for both of them, he should also have had a penalty between the two incidents when Skrtel blatantly tripped him in the box. A hardman in a pair of club-issue woolly gloves, Costa has the unerring ability to get under the skin of even the most experienced players. Steven Gerrard thrust a forehead in his direction as it got really tense in extra-time.
Yet for all the bad feeling and animosity it was a wonderful cup tie that went to extra-time, the away goals rule only applicable at 120 minutes. It was from a foul on Eden Hazard, and there were a few of them, that Chelsea won a free-kick that Willian struck for Branislav Ivanovic to head home. It is Chelsea who will go to Wembley on 1 March for what they hope will be the first trophy of Mourinho II.
In the aftermath, Mourinho described the two stamps by Costa as “absolutely accidental” and, sensing the spectre of retrospective action from the Football Association, launched one of his counter-offensives with the intention of drawing attention away from the main show. He railed against Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp and even chastised Brendan Rodgers – this was a strange one - for not adequately praising Thibaut  Courtois in his post-match interviews.
This was Mourinho at his diversionary best, lashing out at all in the hope that he could shift the argument away from Costa although that is surely where it will lie over the next few days. He was not the only offender, Lucas Leiva and Jordan Henderson were both fortunate to escape second yellow cards. Yet no-one quite matched Costa for the kind of understated aggression that makes you wince just watching.
A breathless first half, and one in which Liverpool made just about all the running. Darting, incisive and pressing Chelsea to within an inch of their lives in midfield, they looked a world away from the team that stumbled through the first few months of the season.
If Liverpool had a fit striker to finish the chances that were created then Chelsea might have been buried by half time, yet as it was they were alive at the break. There had been some moment of living dangerously, not least when Raheem Sterling exposed Kurt Zouma with his explosive running from deep.
That first time, Zouma recovered to make the covering tackle. Then, on half an hour, the excellent Philippe Coutinho deceived the young Frenchman with a twist of the hips to the extent that the Chelsea man was heading in the direction of Fulham by the time he realised the Brazilian had plotted another course.
Zouma was in for Gary Cahill, dropped by Mourinho after an indifferent few weeks and having struggled with the pace of Sterling in the first leg draw at Anfield. Zouma is quick but no-one on the pitch was as quick as Sterling and it took a change of direction by the Liverpool man in the 17th minute to allow Zouma the time to recover and make a good covering tackle.
The two big moments of the first half both revolved around Costa who should have had a penalty on 22 minutes when he was clearly tripped by Skrtel down by the byline. The frothing sense of injustice on the Chelsea bench was not tempered by the fact that their assassin-faced centre-forward should have been sent off 11 minutes earlier.
The stamp, or rather the vicious, sly tread, on the right leg of Emre Can was, sadly, straight out the Costa playbook. A glance to locate his grounded opponent and then a boot thrust down on Can as pushed off to chase the ball. It was a mean, dangerous thing to do and he should have been sent off. One wonders whether that realisation flashed through the mind of referee Oliver when he later denied Costa the penalty.
Around the half hour, Courtois came to the rescue of his defence twice, once when Alberto Moreno was played in by a superb curling ball to the left from Steven Gerrard, then again when Coutinho broke away from Zouma. In midfield, Liverpool swarmed all over their opponents, especially Gerrard on Nemanja Matic.
Chelsea had fewer good moments in attack although they are always just a heartbeat away from a goal. It was notable how little Cesc Fabregas was on the ball before the break, and also how much Matic found himself forced to run with it – not the Serb’s greatest strength.
Fabregas lasted less than five minutes of the new half before a collision with John Terry seemed to resolve in his mind his own fitness issues. He was replaced by Ramires. As per the first half, the pace of the game was unrelenting, so too the theatrical sense of injustice on the Chelsea bench for whom conspiracy existed everywhere.
There was even a moment after the hour when Mourinho found himself pushing Rodgers in an attempt to get to Colin Pascoe, the Liverpool assistant, who it seemed, had the temerity to do as much appealing as the Chelsea bench. All thoroughly entertaining stuff and then, just to calm things down, Rodgers sent on Mario Balotelli.
It was already pretty damn heated by then.  Costa had carried out his second surreptitious stamping, this time on Skrtel as they chased a ball after the whistle had already been blown for a foul by Lucas Leiva on Oscar. It was that sort of game. The captains were called aside by Oliver to cool it down. How the referee kept missing Costa’s studdings, only he will know.
Chelsea attacked more after the break. Around the hour Hazard jinked from right to left and shot wide. Costa had an effort saved and then was deftly tacked by Simon Mignolet when a sloppy pass from Henderson had played the striker in.
Henderson, always in the thick of it, had been booked in the first half and there was outrage among Mourinho and his staff when he did not get a second yellow for a handball. A booking for a handball is at the referee’s discretion, and to say that this one divided opinion was putting it mildly indeed.
And so to extra-time when Lucas’ foul on Hazard gave Chelsea the free-kick that Willian crossed for Ivanovic to head in. Mourinho said afterwards that the defender ended the game with one boot filled with blood from an injury, and promised to have the boot in question on display in the club’s academy. He was on a roll by that point of the post-match press conference.
Rodgers sent on Rickie Lambert for the second period of extra-time but in truth, Liverpool ran out of ideas. The stage was set for Balotelli but he looked miles off the pace. A decent centre-forward is the minimum requirement to beat Chelsea, who were too strong in the end.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Filipe Luis (Azpilicuet,a 78); Matic, Fabregas (Ramires, 49); Willian (Drogba, 118), Oscar, Hazard; Costa.
Liverpool (3-4-3): Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Sakho (Johnson 57); Markovic (Balotelli 70), Henderson, Lucas, Moreno (Lambert 105); Gerrard, Sterling, Coutinho.

Booked:
Chelsea Terry, Ivanovic, Costa, Oscar
Liverpool Henderson, Lucas, Gerrard, Can, Skrtel
Referee: M Oliver
Rating: 9/10
Man of the match: Coutinho

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Guardian:

Branislav Ivanovic heads Chelsea into final with late win over Liverpool
Daniel Taylor

There was a point here when the heat of the battle had brought the two managers together on the touchline, one-time colleagues and friends straying dangerously close to a full-on confrontation. That clash between José Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers seemed emblematic of a thrillingly spiky night when Chelsea reached Wembley, the undercurrent of bad feeling between the two teams frequently spilled into open combat and Diego Costa went far enough the Football Association may feel compelled to act.
It was a breathless encounter full of incident and drama, including some outstanding goalkeeping from Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet, and probably encapsulated by the way Mourinho did not even see the decisive goal from Branislav Ivanovic, four minutes into the first period of extra time, because the Chelsea manager had turned his back to the pitch for one of his regular little expeditions to air his grievances with the fourth official, Phil Dowd.
It was after one of those forays, gesturing that the referee, Michael Oliver, needed spectacles, that Rodgers grumpily intervened and used his arm to lever the Chelsea manager away, before opposite number flicked out his own arm in retaliation. Mourinho’s little black book of perceived injustices – some credible, others much less so – has some new additions because of the way Costa was denied an obvious first-half penalty and two of Liverpool’s players, Jordan Henderson and Lucas Leiva, escaped being shown a second yellow card.
Henderson might have taken the game to a penalty shoot-out with a headed chance eight minutes after Ivanovic’s goal and the awkward truth for Michael Oliver is that even in a season rife with inexplicable refereeing, his performance stood out for all the wrong reasons.
Not that the players helped, of course. John Terry and the substitute Mario Balotelli had to be pulled apart. Martin Skrtel clashed with Courtois and had a running battle with Costa, with reports also indicating the Liverpool player made an offensive gesture to the crowd. Costa, that formidable wind-up merchant, went after Emre Can and Steven Gerrard – anyone, in fact, wearing a red shirt. His provocation was almost unremitting but more seriously there were two incidents when his studs landed on players who were on the ground – on both occasions almost certainly accidentally on purpose.
Costa is so accomplished in the dark arts of his trade that he managed to get away with the first one, stamping on Can’s ankle, even though Dowd was standing a few feet away. The second was also expertly disguised, this time bringing down his foot on Skrtel, and the repercussions could be considerable if the FA’s disciplinary department rules either was violent conduct, with the possibility of a three-match ban or even longer, and a first-against-second encounter with Manchester City to come on Saturday.
Mourinho, who also lost Cesc Fàbregas and Filipe Luís to injuries, appeared to be trying a diversion technique when he complained bitterly about an unnamed Sky pundit (almost certainly Jamie Redknapp), insisted it was “absolutely accidental” from Costa and then aimed a few barbs at Rodgers in a diatribe that revealed much about the current state of their working relationship. He did, however, have legitimate complaints about the refereeing and particularly the moment in the first half when Skrtel clearly tripped Costa inside the penalty area and was given the benefit of the doubt. Once again, the Chelsea manager talked of the “campaign” that has earned him his own disciplinary charge from the FA.
In addition, there was a punch of the air in his post-match interviews and a cry of “let’s go to Wembley”. It seemed like a release of tension bearing in mind Liverpool had continued where they left off from the first leg, when they had often excelled in a 1-1 draw, passing the ball crisply and reminding us in brief passages of the slick, adventurous football they put together last season. What the visitors lacked was someone with Luis Suárez’s ability to finish off one of their chances when they were finding the same sort of gaps that Bradford City had exploited at the weekend. Coutinho’s ability to run with the ball was a prominent feature and Raheem Sterling was another difficult opponent for Chelsea’s defence. Yet Courtois was excellent and when Balotelli was introduced as a substitute it was a sorry contribution from the Italian.
Otherwise, Liverpool’s attackers made it a difficult occasion for Kurt Zouma on a night when Mourinho decided the 20-year-old should partner Terry and dropped Gary Cahill to the bench after a poor sequence of matches. Mikel John Obi, substituted against Bradford, did not even warrant a place on the bench but it was Cahill’s omission that delivered the clearest message that Mourinho was not going to tolerate his team being so generous in defence again. Zouma improved as the game went on but he looked raw early on and by half-time Chelsea were indebted to Courtois for keeping out Coutinho and Alberto Moreno.
Mourinho must have been startled that Mignolet was less occupied in the first 45 minutes but Chelsea did eventually start to play with the greater control and dominated long periods of the second half. Mignolet has been too vulnerable too often for Liverpool this season but there was a succession of fine saves during these moments, in particular when Costa fired in a low right-foot effort that took a sizeable deflection and could easily have wrong-footed him.
Henderson, booked for an earlier foul, should probably have been sent off when his arm blocked a pass from Eden Hazard and Lucas, with a yellow card already shown, was also fortunate after a trip on the same player. From the free-kick, Willian clipped the ball into the penalty area and the bad news for Liverpool was that Balotelli was marking Ivanovic. It was a mismatch and Ivanovic headed in the goal to ensure Chelsea will be at Wembley on 1 March.

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Telegraph:

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0 (2-1 on agg):
Branislav Ivanovic scores extra-time winner to seal feisty semi-final win
Full-back heads Jose Mourinho's side to the final

Henry Winter

A two-hour adrenalin rush of a game finished with Chelsea at Wembley, with players and supporters gasping for breath and with Branislav Ivanovic’s blood-filled boot destined for the academy reception to remind youngsters of the commitment levels required. A compelling, contentious game also finished with Diego Costa at risk of investigation by the FA for two stamping offences.
Jose Mourinho, the Special One loving the Capital One, sought to deflect attention away from Costa’s excesses by railing against an unnamed Sky pundit understood to be Jamie Redknapp, who has been critical of Chelsea and, apparently, supportive of Liverpool. Even his name’s got red in it, the conspiracy theorists will note.
As for Costa, the FA’s meek disciplinary department will probably shirk the challenge. Nobody at the Bridge did. Lucas and Jordan Henderson should have been dismissed. Costa certainly should. Such was the frantic pace, and endless squaring up, that the game was briefly trending on Twitter in Rio, the home of the Beautiful Game probably trying to work out when football had become Rollerball.
Few matches this season have contained so much incident, from incompetent refereeing to a bout of goading between the benches that prompted Brendan Rodgers’ assistant, Colin Pascoe, to offer an angry Mourinho his glasses. These rivals’ latest confrontation also saw two fine goalkeeping performances from Simon Mignolet and particularly Thibaut Courtois, who was named man of the match, although other worthy candidates presented themselves in a magnificent match that cast a spell over a mesmerised audience of 40,659. Along with Mignolet, Philippe Coutinho was superb, while Emre Can continues to pick up the pace and physical nature of the English fray, even showing attacking intent with breaks from the back. For Chelsea, Ivanovic took his winner, an extra-time header, brilliantly and played on despite a cut in his foot.
Willian was tireless in his pursuit of the ball and creative in his use of it. Nemanja Matic patrolled midfield ably. Eden Hazard kept dribbling, kept taking the hits. Costa, for all his skullduggery, was magnificent in the second half of normal time and then the additional half-hour; he was the focal point and goal threat that Liverpool crave.
Liverpool can take pride by how close they pushed Chelsea, lacking only a finisher. Raheem Sterling ran hard and fast but Liverpool need Daniel Sturridge, who could return for Saturday’s Premier League game at home to West Ham United. Mario Balotelli’s behaviour, though, whether selfishly going for goal or selfishly heading down the tunnel at full-time, ignoring his team-mates and fans, again brings into question his future at Liverpool. On a night of surprises, Balotelli briefly played the peace-maker at one point.
This was a game of one goal and countless incidents. Mourinho was furious about Michael Oliver’s refereeing, particularly missing a clear penalty when Costa was fouled in the first half. Mourinho was so unhappy at the break that he sought out Oliver in the tunnel and the fourth official, Phil Dowd, had to intervene.
Mourinho’s concerns about a “campaign” against Chelsea began earlier in the season when Oliver cautioned Costa for simulation at Turf Moor when it looked like he had been brought down by the Burnley goalkeeper, Tom Heaton. “I hope he doesn’t get any more unfair decisions,’’ said Mourinho at the time.
Oliver is a talented referee, respected in Europe, but this should have been a game for England’s top official, Mark Clattenburg. Once again an important game was laced with a debate about English refereeing standards.
At least Clattenburg will be here on Saturday for the visit of Manchester City, who will be hoping that Chelsea are exhausted and that Filipe Luis (calf), Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) and Ivanovic (foot) fail to recover from injuries picked up against Liverpool.
Chelsea needed resilience throughout. When Kurt Zouma, who was preferred to Gary Cahill, misjudged a header, allowing Sterling to race down the inside-left, the young centre-half made amends for his mistake. As Sterling flew into the box, eluding John Terry, Zouma covered back to muscle him off the ball.
If Liverpool looked for the pace of Sterling, Chelsea were focusing on Costa. After 11 minutes, Costa planted his right foot into Can’s right ankle, incensing the German. Costa pleaded innocence, pointing out he had to put his foot somewhere.
Oliver was trying to play advantage, keeping a frenetic game flowing, but assorted incidents kept going unpunished. When Luis complained about a Lazar Markovic challenge, the Serb ran past him and grabbed him by the neck. Chelsea’s bench was like a manic toaster, popping up, fuming. Oliver did not spot the offence.
Chelsea’s bench went into meltdown after 22 minutes when Oscar angled a great ball through for Costa, whose right foot was caught by Martin Skrtel. The ball bounced towards the Shed and the decision was either for a corner or a penalty. Oliver decreed a goal-kick, further antagonising Chelsea who were convinced it was a clear penalty.
If controversy hung over one half, vapour trails floated over the other. Liverpool’s pacier players were charging forward. Alberto Moreno cut in but was thwarted by Courtois. Then Coutinho raced through the middle, sending Zouma the wrong way, before letting fly with a left-footed strike. Only Courtois’ response, stretching out his left foot, diverted the danger.
Oliver finally booked somebody, punishing Henderson for hounding Eden Hazard. As he walked towards the tunnel at the break, Oliver was greeted with caustic comments from the Chelsea fans. Mourinho also had a word at the break with the under-pressure referee. So much was going on, away from Oliver’s gaze. Mamadou Sakho gave the ball away early in the second half, passing crossfield, allowing Costa to nick the ball.
Oscar was painfully brought down by Lucas. Oliver tried to allow advantage which simply resulted in Costa again being careless with his feet, landing one on Skrtel, who responded with an attempted fly-kick before the routine squaring up.
Costa began parading his more positive side, twice raiding into the box but denied by Mignolet. As Oliver concluded normal time, Rodgers gathered his players in a huddle, so did Mourinho, who dropped on his haunches for his address. They responded strongly, Hazard going on another dribble, this one ended by Lucas. As Mourinho asked Dowd why another yellow card had not been waved at Lucas, Willian curled the ball over and Ivanovic headed powerfully home, exploiting laxness in Liverpool’s zonal marking.
Liverpool had to score anyway, because of away goals. The first half still had time for more drama, a tangle between Gerrard and Costa, bringing both bookings. Balotelli tried to curl the ball in à la Kanu, Henderson headed wide and Skrtel body-checked Costa before Oliver called time. It was all over bar the recriminations. In the dressing room, Mourinho’s son held a flag declaring “we’re on our way to Wembley”.

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Times:

Chelsea are taken extra mile before Ivanovic gives them the nod
Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0 aet; Chelsea win 2-1 on agg

Oliver Kay

When the moment came, four minutes into extra time, José Mourinho was not watching. He was too busy remonstrating with Phil Dowd, the fourth official, to see an unmarked Branislav Ivanovic head the only goal of an extraordinary evening at Stamford Bridge, sending Chelsea through to the Capital One Cup final.
The action was compelling throughout — fast and furious, breathless, end to end — but, when a game is played in this aggressive spirit, at this pace, at this intensity, seemingly too much for a young referee, controversies abound. Michael Oliver missed two deliberate-looking stamps from Diego Costa, ignored a a strong Chelsea penalty appeal and failed to punish second bookable offences from Jordan Henderson and Lucas Leiva. That it remained 11 against 11 was almost as astounding as the fact that it was still 0-0 after 90 minutes.
Mourinho was furious that Oliver did not send off Lucas, already booked, for a cynical trip on Eden Hazard in the opening minutes of extra time. He was still venting his anger at Dowd, with his back turned, when Willian swung over a free kick that was headed past Simon Mignolet by Ivanovic — so often the man with a big goal on the big occasion.
On an evening that saw some wonderful creative contributions — from Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and Hazard, among others — and required some top-class goalkeeping from Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet, it felt almost disappointing that the only goal came from something as rudimentary as a dead-ball kick. It was a goal that summed up the difference between the two teams, though, with a combination of big-match temperament, ruthlessness and aerial threat swinging the tie decisively in Chelsea’s favour.
Mourinho was not the only one whose attention had wandered when the net bulged. When Willian crossed, both Glen Johnson and Mario Balotelli fatefully lost track of Ivanovic. For all their undoubted improvement since the dark days of the autumn, Liverpool still lack reliability in both penalty areas. At least, once Daniel Sturridge finally returns from injury, they should rediscover some composure and conviction in front of goal.
It says something about Liverpool’s lack of potency in attack — as well as the heroics of Courtois in the Chelsea goal — that they created so many chances in the first leg but scored only once. Last night they found chances harder to come by, with Chelsea the more impressive team after half-time, but still Brendan Rodgers is entitled to claim a little solace in defeat.
Tactically, Rodgers, with a 3-4-1-2 formation, seemed to get it about right against what is, ultimately, a stronger team. Where the Liverpool manager was wrong was in suggesting that there would be “a wee bit of trepidation” in the Chelsea ranks after their implosion against Bradford City in the FA Cup; given that Mourinho made nine changes to his starting XI, with his big-name players returning, the hangover theory did not wash.
Intriguingly, Gary Cahill was among those who dropped out of the starting line-up, with Kurt Zouma preferred alongside John Terry. Cahill’s recent form has been patchy, but it seemed an uncharacteristic — if refreshing — gamble from Mourinho to select a 20-year-old central defender with just 137 minutes of Barclays Premier League football under his belt. Zouma was one of the central figures in the first half, Courtois another, which says something about Liverpool’s attacking threat, but above all the eye was drawn to Costa. It very often is, such is his tendency to position himself at the centre of any drama and controversy.
Certainly the home team should have had a penalty when Martin Skrtel mistimed a sliding challenge on Costa midway through the first half, but the Chelsea forward was fortunate still to be on the pitch at that stage after what looked like a deliberate stamp on Emre Can in the 12th minute.
Chelsea had another penalty appeal rejected when the ball deflected on to Leiva’s arm, while Oscar fizzed a couple of efforts narrowly wide from the edge of the penalty area, but the clearest opportunities from open play were at the other end, where Nemanja Matic struggled initially against Steven Gerrard and the lively Coutinho.
On 17 minutes Zouma misjudged a high ball, allowing Raheem Sterling to race clear. Sterling was about to shoot when the ball was stolen off his toe by Zouma. Defenders who excel at the recovery tackle are not always to be trusted, but, after the initial aberration, it was quite a rescue act.
Ten minutes later Gerrard picked out Alberto Moreno, who became the latest opponent to be thwarted by Courtois, spreading himself well. Moments later Coutinho bamboozled Cesc Fàbregas and Zouma and bore down on the goalkeeper, but he too was denied.
Chelsea lost Fàbregas to injury, but Ramires gave them more bite. Hazard waltzed past a couple of challenges on the edge of the penalty area and shot just wide. Mignolet did well to save a deflected shot from Costa and then even better to tackle the forward, who was through on goal.
Henderson, recipient of a soft yellow card in the first half, was lucky to escape a second for a cynical handball, but the errors and injustices were all over the place, with Costa getting away with a second stamp, this time on Skrtel.
With Liverpool needing a goal to avoid elimination on the away-goals rule, Rodgers sent on Balotelli, who, as it transpired, was among those culpable for Ivanovic’s goal. It was his sloppy pass that gave possession to Hazard, who was fouled by Lucas — like Henderson earlier, lucky to avoid a second yellow card. From Willian’s free kick, Ivanovic was left unmarked to score with the header.
Even then, there was time for an angry flare-up between Gerrard and Costa and for Sterling to set up Henderson, who somehow missed the target with a header. A Liverpool goal at that point would have forced a penalty shoot-out, but Chelsea held firm. When it matters, they very often do.

Full back’s Midas touch
Branislav Ivanovic has scored his share of important goals for Chelsea
April 2009 Liverpool 1 Chelsea 3 (Champions League quarter-final, first leg): Scores twice with headers to overturn an early deficit
May 2013 Chelsea 2 Benfica 1 (Europa League final): Header in extra time gives Chelsea the trophy
Feb 2014 Manchester City 0 Chelsea 1 (Barclays Premier League): On target to draw Chelsea level with City in the title race

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Mail:

Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (AET, agg 2-1): Branislav Ivanovic heads Blues into the Capital One Cup final in fiery contest... but should Diego Costa have been sent off after stamping on TWO players?

By Martin Samuel

In real terms, it did not make a whole heap of difference when Branislav Ivanovic scored. Liverpool went into extra-time needing to score and, even after Chelsea’s goal, that remained the requirement.
It had been a goal to win, now it was a goal to earn a penalty shoot-out. Yet it wasn’t the mathematics that mattered, but the psychology. Liverpool had given it their best shot, a magnificent shot, a full-throttle, engines screaming, maximum G-force ride of a shot.
And still it wasn’t enough.
Chelsea were first to the punch. As they had been at Anfield, as they were once again. At no time in 210 minutes of cup football did Liverpool lead this tie. They had done enough to win, they had the chances, they played some lovely stuff — but Chelsea found a way and Liverpool did not. So that Ivanovic goal, as meaningless as it must have seemed to the neutrals, will have really hurt them.
Brendan Rodgers rallied his players in the extra-time break, he introduced Rickie Lambert from the bench and was still giving Jordan Henderson instructions until seconds before the restart. It was all for nothing. Liverpool looked done by then.
Henderson had already missed the chance to level five minutes after Chelsea scored. He had a free header from a cross by Raheem Sterling, who had bamboozled Ivanovic on the left. It went yards wide.
Ivanovic’s chance, by contrast, had goal labelled on it from the moment Willian’s free-kick met his head. It helped that Mario Balotelli had assumed marking duties in the middle. He carried them lightly and Liverpool suffered the consequence. Steven Gerrard will have to find another route to Wembley, then — starting with a detour to Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup next Wednesday. If selected.
Still, this was an outstanding game, as good as the crazy Champions League tie between these teams in the days of Guus Hiddink. That had goals, eight of them, but this had action.
There were thrills, there were spills — Cesc Fabregas off injured after 50 minutes, having collided in a tackle with his captain, John Terry — and there were bellyaches, mostly around Diego Costa, who was twice accused of stamping on the foot on an opponent and later booked after a scuffle with Gerrard. The first offence looked more nefariously motivated than his second, on Martin Skrtel after half-time, but there may be repercussions if referee Michael Oliver says he did not see the initial incident with Emre Can and the FA get involved. That may be his best defence, temporary blindness. It would certainly explain some of his poorer calls.
As well as what looked like a red card for Costa, Oliver missed an even more blatant penalty that should have been awarded to Chelsea and could have sent off Henderson for deliberate handball having already booked him. It was as if the sheer ferocity of the game overpowered him. He started shakily and quickly lost control.
Referees’ chief Mike Riley says the performances of his officials this season are better than ever but one has to wonder the name of the company he engages to compile such surveys. Rose Tinted Inc, perhaps?
In the first quarter of this game, Oliver made two huge errors. That the person who should have got the penalty was also the player who was fortunate to avoid the card, hardly compensated. We cannot look to karma to clean up the messes of referees. Two wrongs do not make a right. This, and no doubt a few other points, were being made by Jose Mourinho at half-time – when he waited in the tunnel for Oliver to come out of his room. This may get him into trouble with the FA, too – although the level of Oliver’s performance should also have repercussions, unless Riley has his spectacles on again.
Start with the decision that could have seen Costa dismissed. The ball went out and Liverpool defender Emre Can with it. Lying on the floor he attempted to delay Costa’s attempt to get it back into play. This was clearly mischievous but hardly the most despicable offence and certainly did not warrant what happened next.
Costa, in attempting to clamber over him, stood on Can’s leg – in fact he made little attempt to avoid it – and then appeared to use it as a springboard. Whatever Can’s initial provocation, Costa could easily have been dismissed and his escalation provoked what the Americans call a bench clearer. Over came the Liverpool players to confront Costa – and Can appeared to recover quite quickly from writhing around once reinforcements arrived, too – up jumped the Chelsea coaching staff to defend their man. 
The utter redundancy of the fourth official could be seen in that moment. Unless given the power to directly intervene – this had all happened three feet in front of him after all – what is his purpose? While Oliver may have missed Costa’s stamp, it is hard to imagine Phil Dowd did also, yet his only role was as the mediator between the warring sides. Worse was to come.
Worse, because in the case of Costa’s stamp there will always be those who claim it happened accidentally; in the case of his penalty claim, there is no grey area. Costa cut inside Martin Skrtel and he tripped him over. No doubt this time, no mitigation. Oliver pointed and Jose Mourinho wheeled around to face his coaches satisfied, at last, that Chelsea’s run of poor treatment by referees in the penalty area had ended.
He turned to see that Oliver had not in fact awarded a penalty but a goal kick – his gesticulations as accurate as his judgements – and it is fair to say the Chelsea manager was displeased. One might argue that justice was done. But it was a strange justice, a warped justice, justice that relied upon a pile-up of incompetence, each error somehow balancing the last. Don’t try this at home, folks.
The wacky world of Oliver aside, plus unseemly scuffles that broke out as frequently as on a stag weekend in Prague, this was a fine game – frantic, feisty, fiery and open. Eden Hazard was brilliant, so was Sterling, but the best chances fell largely to Liverpool. Chelsea had the bulk of possession, yet Liverpool often looked likelier to score – Sterling and Philippe Coutinho again causing Chelsea problems with their pace.
Gary Cahill had paid the price for the capitulation against Bradford City at the weekend and was dropped to the bench, replaced by Kurt Zouma, but Liverpool remained dangerous. In the 17th minute, Zouma got too tight, missed his header and Sterling tore through on goal. He beat John Terry but the old stager held him up sufficiently to allow Zouma to recover and make amends with a quite superb tackle.
Ten minutes later – and in the middle of the standard disparaging chorus about that slip and its consequences –Gerrard played a simply wonderful pass into Alberto Moreno on the left whose low shot forced a fine save from Thiubaut Courtois. Just three minutes later, a great run by Coutinho split Chelsea’s defence before Courtois saved again. Chelsea had more of it in the second-half when Hazard and Costa came close, but Liverpool will wonder how it is not them walking out at Wembley on March 1. They will surely win a trophy under Rodgers one day – but before you start, you’ve got to finish.

CHELSEA: Courtois 7.5, Ivanovic 6.5, Zouma 6, Terry 6.5, Luis 6 (Azpilicueta 78), Fabregas 6 (Ramires 50), Matic 6, Willian 7 (Drogba 119), Oscar 6.5, Hazard 8, Costa 7.5.
Subs not used: Cech, Ake, Drogba, Remy, Cahill.
Booked: Terry, Ivanovic, Costa, Oscar
Goal: Ivanovic 94
Manager: Jose Mourinho 7

LIVERPOOL: Mignolet 7.5, Can 6, Skrtel 7, Sakho 6.5 (Johnson 57), Markovic 6 (Balotelli 70), Henderson 7, Lucas 7.5, Moreno 7 (Lambert 105), Coutinho 8, Gerrard 6, Sterling 7.5.
Subs not used: Ward, Lovren, Lallana, Allen.
Booked: Henderson, Lucas, Gerrard, Can, Skrtel
Manager: Brendan Rodgers 7
Referee Michael Oliver (Northumberland)

=================

Mirror:

Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool: Branislav Ivanovic heads home extra-time winner to send Blues to Wembley

Dave Kidd

A breathtaking 90 minutes could no separate the two teams but the big defender headed home from a free-kick to give Jose Mourinho the bragging rights
After two hours of frenzied, lock-up-your-daughters football, Jose Mourinho was hardly in celebratory mood.
His side had ended a godforsaken week by heading to Wembley for the Capital One Cup Final but the Chelsea boss was fuming at Brendan Rodgers, referee Michael Oliver and, especially, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp.
And then Mourinho claimed that Branislav Ivanovic’s blood-filled boot should be displayed in the Chelsea Academy as testament to the brutal nature of this victory, after the Serbian defender had headed an extra-time winner.
Here you are kids, this is how you win a semi-final.
This was a match often dominated by Diego Costa, who might have been sent off for two separate stamping incidents, was denied a blatant penalty and epitomised Chelsea’s over-my-dead-body spirit with a menacing display.
This was some way for Mourinho’s men to ease memories of Saturday’s stunning FA Cup defeat by Bradford. It was a crash-bang-wallop match brimming with raw hostility, with the speedometer set to ‘breakneck’.
Liverpool were the better team over two legs, yet Mourinho now has the chance to win the first trophy of his second coming at Stamford Bridge.
He’d probably prefer the final to go to extra-time too because - like Phil Brown, only with medals – the old show-off seemed to love the theatre of giving an open-air team talk, as he knelt to deliver his instructions with his players circling him after 90 goalless minutes.
Afterwards he carpeted Redknapp and Rodgers for criticising Costa, and Oliver for failing to award a penalty. The dark conspiracy theories of a media bias against Chelsea refuse to go away but the siege mentality appears to work.
Mourinho must have felt like a man sweeping up the debris from a meteorite strike since the Bradford defeat but his side were determined not to subside again.
It was clear that Costa had the mark of the beast on him from the start and he won a shuddering shoulder-to-shoulder challenge on Emre Can before the flashpoint which threatened a night of pure naughtiness.
Can had tumbled by the touchline after a tussle with Costa, who responded with a stamp on the Liverpool player’s shin which would surely have earned a red had Michael Oliver spotted it.
Then it was Costa’s chance to suffer injustice as Martin Skrtel took his leg away for a stonewall penalty of Emperor Hadrian proportions.
Yet Skrtel reacted as if Costa had dived, Oliver was kidded and Chelsea - awarded an early spot-kick in the first leg - were denied one this time.
The Bridge was a bearpit, Steven Gerrard being taunted mercilessly on his first visit here since the April fall at Anfield which helped blow the title.
Yet the Liverpool skipper responded with class, picking out Alberto Moreno with a gem of a pass only for Thibaut Courtois to rush off his line and push away.
Liverpool were quicker, hungrier and never allowing Chelsea to settle.
Philippe Coutinho kippered Zouma with a turn and sprint, only for Courtois to save with his feet.
A dozy pass from Mamadou Sakho sparked the next eruption, when Lucas brought down Oscar, earning a booking, before Costa appeared to stamp on Skrtel after the whistle had blown.
Mourinho exchanged verbals with Liverpool assistant boss Colin Pascoe, then light shoves with Rodgers – ‘it was a big game, so The Chimp came out,’ said Rodgers, referencing his mind guru Dr Steve Peters.
Amid the mayhem, a little majesty from Eden Hazard, with a slalom run and a shot, whipped just wide.
Costa’s deflected shot saved by Mignolet’s legs, Gerrard testing Courtois, Mignolet denying Costa and Courtois saving at the feet of Sterling.
Henderson escaped a second yellow for a seemingly cynical handball, enraging Mourinho.
Rodgers chucked another Molotov into a riotous night by sending on Mario Balotelli, then Terry bulldozed Sterling and Gerrard blazed into the top tier of The Shed.
Mourinho gave his kneeling team talk, with his players encircling him.
And within three minutes, Willian swung in a free-kick from the right and Ivanovic, who’d been hobbling with his wounded foot, leapt to head home.
There was still time for Gerrard and Costa to wrestle and rut one another, both earning yellow cards.
A fitting end to a glorious night of violence.

Team line-ups and Dave Kidd's ratings

CHELSEA: Courtois 8; Ivanovic 7, Zouma 6, Terry 7, Luis 6; Matic 7, Fabregas 5; Willian 7, Oscar 6, Hazard 7; Costa 7.

Subs used: Ramires (49mins, Fabregas), Azpilicueta (77mins, Luis) Drogba (119mins, Willian).
Subs not used: Cech, Cahill, Ake, Remy.

LIVERPOOL: Mignolet 7; Can 6, Skrtel 6, Sakho 5; Markovic 5, Henderson 6, Lucas 6, Moreno 7; Gerrard 7, Sterling 7, Coutinho 8.

Subs used: Johnson (56mins, Sakho), Balotelli (70mins, Markovic), Lambert (105mins, Moreno).
Subs not used: Ward, Lovren, Lallana, Allen.
REFEREE: Michael Oliver 5.

=================

Express:

Chelsea 1 - Liverpool 0 (AET): Ivanovic heads Blues into League Cup final

Joe Short

Ivanovic rose unmarked to convert Willian's free-kick after 94 goalless minutes at Stamford Bridge.
Diego Costa twice spurned a chance to net the winner, while Alberto Moreno saw Liverpool's best effort palmed away by Thibaut Courtois.
The result sees Chelsea safely into March's final at Wembley against either Tottenham or Sheffield United, who play tomorrow night.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers named an unchanged XI that drew 1-1 with Chelsea in the first leg at Anfield last week, while Jose Mourinho opted to keep Kurt Zouma in his back four to cope with Raheem Sterling's pace.
And the game was uglied early on by a nasty stamp from Diego Costa on Lazar Markovic that went unnoticed by the referee.
The incident set the tone for a fiery opening that truly ignited when Martin Skrtel upended Costa in the box - only for referee Michael Oliver to wave away the Spaniard's theatrical protests.
Courtois was called upon moments later to superbly block Moreno's one-on-one effort from the left, before denying Philippe Coutinho with an outstretched leg as Liverpool tore through Chelsea's defence.
In return Oscar clipped a free-kick low and wide of Simon Mignolet's right-hand post as the first half dwindled to an end.
It didn't take the second half long to raise the atmosphere inside Stamford Bridge, however, when Lucas dived in late on Oscar during a Blues break, which earned the Liverpool man a yellow. In the melee that once again followed, Costa appeared to leave his studs in on Skrtel as the referee blew up for the original foul.
Just before the hour mark Eden Hazard had the crowd on its feet when he waltzed down the Chelsea right, cut inside and fizzed a shot just wide.
Chelsea's tails were up and only a brilliant reaction save from Mignolet prevented Costa netting the opener before the Belgian proved Liverpool's hero once again when Henderson diverted the ball into Costa's path, only for Mignolet to tackle the striker and clear the danger.
Henderson was somewhat lucky not to receive a second yellow for hand ball before Lazar Markovic exited the field for Mario Balotelli.
The change made little difference to Liverpool's forward intentions but the tempo deflated towards 90 minutes as both sides prepared for extra time.
Chelsea knew heading into the additional 30 minutes a 0-0 draw would see them through on away goals.
But Mourinho's men didn't need it, as Ivanovic rose high to nod his team in front from a simple free kick. Liverpool's zonal marking let them down - Ivanovic running unmarked into the box before powering past the helpless Mignolet from six yards.
The goal forced Liverpool to attack and Henderson squandered a great opportunity to head a leveller 10 yards out but it proved a rare foray forward, as Chelsea held on to make it through to Wembley.

======================

Star:

Chelsea 1 - Liverpool 0 (agg 2-1 AET): Ivanovic sends Blues to Wembley
Paul Brown

Branislav Ivanovic eventually sent Chelsea through to the Capital One Cup final with an extra-time header from a Willian free kick.
But boy did they have to work for it against a Liverpool side who arrived with a gameplan which came so close to paying off.
Ivanovic won the tie but Diego Costa was the story of the game as he picked up where he left off after his tunnel row with Jordan Henderson in the first leg.
Denied a penalty for a foul by Martin Skrtel, he was also involved in three bust-ups. First he sparked a melee by treading on Emre Can.
Then he provoked Skrtel by appearing to stamp on the Reds defender’s ankle – and he ended his night with a booking for going head to head with Steven Gerrard.
It may have been ugly. But it was also a thriller, with Belgians Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet in superb form as chances came and went at either end.
So after the “disgrace” of losing to Bradford, Chelsea avoided what would have been the disaster of going out of a second cup in a week here.
But it’s another trophy gone for Liverpool, who didn’t last long on their return to the Champions League.
And while they can be proud of the way they played, Brendan Rodgers has still never beaten Jose Mourinho, whose side will now face Tottenham or Sheffield United at Wembley.
Liverpool survived an early penalty scare when Willian’s shot cannoned off the arm of Lucas – and then the argy-bargy started.
After Emre Can went down under his challenge, Costa stepped on his leg right in front of the dug-outs, sparking a furious response from the Liverpool player and some of his team-mates.
Costa was at the heart of it again in the 23rd minute when Skrtel hacked him down on the edge of the box. There was definite contact but referee Michael Oliver waved away the appeals.
Courtois then did well to deny first Alberto Moreno and then Philippe Coutinho, who beat Zouma far too easily and should have scored.
And Chelsea suffered a huge blow when Cesc Fabregas limped off just after half time after injuring himself going into the same tackle as John Terry.
Soon after that the handbags came out again. Lucas was booked for hacking down Oscar and Costa was then involved in another ugly incident.
He jumped a tackle by Skrtel and then trod on the defender’s ankle, with the Reds defender then aiming a kick at him in retaliation.
It was bad tempered and ugly, but there were chances at both ends when the sides decided to focus on playing football, with Hazard missing a great one.
Mignolet then pulled off a superb save to deny Costa, whose shot took a wicked deflection off Skrtel – and he did even better to deny the Blues striker moments later with a last-ditch tackle.
Henderson was then lucky to escape a second booking for deliberate handball after receiving a yellow card in the first half for a tug on Hazard’s shirt.
Then it was Terry’s turn to ride his luck. His tackle on Sterling was late and from behind, and it failed to win the ball, but it only earned him a booking.
When the goal finally came you could sense the relief around the ground. But they had to wait until the fourth minute of extra time for it to come.
Lucas, who had already been booked, brought down Hazard and Willian swung in the free kick for Ivanovic to head home unmarked from six yards.
But the drama wasn’t over as Henderson somehow headed wide a brilliant Sterling cross and Costa went head to head with Gerrard.

Bradford 2-4

Independent:
Chelsea 2 Bradford City 4

Bantams produce one of the all-time FA Cup shocks after fighting back from two down to beat Blues

Mourinho’s men throw away two-goal lead and chance of four trophies this season as unsung visitors storm back in second half

Michael Calvin  

Stamford Bridge is supposed to be the Death Star of modern football, a dark, forbidding place where dreams go to die. Yet the force was with Bradford City as they transformed it into an enchanted garden. FA Cup shocks do not come more romantic or dramatic than this.

The disgrace of which Jose Mourinho had warned, in what proved to be a dangerously prophetic throwaway line before a fourth-round tie which will live on in legend, was delivered on the sort of afternoon which defines the much-maligned democracy of the battered old competition. The Premier League leaders took a two goal lead in 39 minutes, and everyone prepared to patronise the League One team for the honesty of their effort. But man-of-the-match Jon Stead reduced the deficit before the second half was shaped by a sequence of miracles and wonders.
Chelsea could not even take advantage of seven minutes added time, which put the Chelsea manager’s refereeing conspiracy theories into perspective. He applauded when substitute Mark Yeates converted Bradford’s final goal three minutes before the final whistle, and made a point of visiting their dressing room to reinforce his respect.
The fact he referred to them as Barnsley in a lacerating inquest gave a more convincing insight into his mindset, and he was in no mood to deflect blame. “I feel happy for them, but I feel ashamed” he said. “My players should feel exactly the same.”
Bradford’s 6,000 fans were gleefully disrespectful, chanting “you’re getting sacked in the morning.” They were forgiven their cheek, since it had seemed the nearest they would come to being showered in stardust was a pre-match good luck message from one of their few celebrity supporters, the magician Dynamo. Even his mastery of illusion has never been able to pull off a trick like this.
Phil Parkinson, manager of a team separated by 49 places from their exalted opponents, had the distant air of someone whose grasp of reality was wonderfully tenuous. His side had exuded honesty, and relied on other-worldly self-discipline. It was a result guaranteed to run through his CV like a golden thread, and offered further evidence of the potential of too many unheralded British managers.
Bradford belong to a starkly different world to Chelsea. Tickets for the latter’s potential title decider against City next weekend are already being hawked on the secondary market for more than £3,000. Judging by the glossy leaflets handed out at local Tube stations, practically begged for any spares, the touts are moving remorselessly upmarket.  Mark Yeates is mobbed after scoring an unbelievable fourth goal for the Bantams 
The foot soldiers, who mumbled their availability for business on the approach to the ground, knew they had a tough sell. Mourinho made nine changes from the team for the first leg of their League Cup semi-final at Anfield for what felt like a chore. Predictably diffident, it took time for them to grow into the least enticing of three games in eight days. Their initial lethargy was such that Bradford would have taken a 13th-minute lead, but for Petr Cech’s athletic left-handed save from an Andrew Davies header.  Chelsea players react after conceding the fourth goal 
Didier Drogba, captain for the day, was soon broadcasting his discomfort by flexing his left knee. Rory McArdle required no invitation to indulge in a late lunge which resulted in an inevitable booking.
Chelsea’s opening goal, in the 21st minute, came from the sort of mundane set-piece that is practised by rote on the training ground. Oscar supplied a near-post corner and Cahill delivered a back-heeled flick which flew into the roof of the net.
When Ramires added a second seven minutes from half-time it seemed game over. Winning the ball on halfway, he surged forward and slot the ball in off the base of the far post following an exchange of passes with Mohamed Salah. But Stead replied almost immediately with a right-footed rising drive from the edge of the area for his fourth goal in five FA Cup ties.
Then, as so often happens, the Cup began to write its own script. Felipe Morais, a former Chelsea youth-team player whose career had stuttered after he rejected Mourinho’s offer of a contract extension, was left unmarked, following a well-worked long throw, to equalise in the 75th minute.  Phil Parkinson applauds the travelling fans after a brilliant win 
Eight minutes remained when Andy Halliday curled in a sumptuous right-footed shot after Stead had held the ball up brilliantly.
“Surreal,” said Parkinson afterwards, as Mourinho mourned “one of my worst results as manager”. No one was offering him an argument.

Chelsea: (4-2-3-1) Cech; Christensen, Cahill, Zouma, Azpilicueta; Mikel (Fabregas, 68), Ramires; Rémy (Hazard, 75), Oscar, Salah (Willian, 69); Drogba.

Bradford: (4-3-1-2 ) Williams; Darby, McArdle, Davies, Meredith; Liddle, Morais (Clarke, 89), Halliday (Routis, 86); Knott (Yeates, 79); Hanson, Stead.

Referee: Andre Marriner.
Man of the Match: Jon Stead (Bradford)
Match Rating: 9/10

============

Observer:

Chelsea in disgrace after Bradford City pull off massive FA Cup shock
Chelsea 2 - 4 Bradford City

Russell Kempson at Stamford Bridge

This was the real deal – David brutally slaying Goliath. And comfortably, too. Chelsea, the Premier League leaders, swarmed into an early 2-0 lead, which was pegged back to 2-1 by half-time but then, inexplicably, they collapsed in the second half.
Bradford, seventh in League One and separated from Chelsea by 49 places, scored two late goals to take a numbing 3-2 lead. Did they retreat to hold on for a famous victory? Did they heck.
As Chelsea huffed and puffed, suddenly realising that their quest for an unprecedented “quadruple” was going pear-shaped, the Bantams added a fourth goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Jon Stead, a vibrant force up front all afternoon, squared the ball for the onrushing Mark Yeates, a Bradford substitute, and he despatched it with aplomb. Salt was rubbed mercilessly into the gaping wound.
 
José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, had said that it would be a “disgrace” if Chelsea lost – for only the third time in 34 matches this season. And it was … Never mind that they fielded only two of the team that had held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final at Anfield on Tuesday night. The others were resting for the return leg at Stamford Bridge this Tuesday.
Saturday’s starting lineup still included first-team regulars Oscar, Gary Cahill and César Azpilicueta. Ramires, Didier Drogba and Mikel John Obi are pretty decent performers, too. But, despite an encouraging start, Chelsea were ultimately brushed aside. “What we’ve done is slowly sinking in,” Phil Parkinson, the Bradford manager, said. “When we were all on the pitch celebrating at the end, it did feel a bit surreal. But what a great performance from our lads.
“To come to the league leaders and score four goals is a great feeling. It will be remembered in Bradford for a long time and in the rest of the country as well. It’s put Bradford on the map again.
“We were disciplined and always carried a threat going forward. If we’d retreated into our own half for 90 minutes, I wouldn’t be sitting here as the winning manager. We showed great character in coming back from 2-0 down. Our heads never dropped.”
Parkinson had always hoped to claim another major scalp – as Bradford did three times on their run to the League Cup final in 2013. They memorably defeated Premier League Wigan Athletic, Arsenal and Aston Villa on their way to the final, in which their adventure came to a bumpy end in a 5-0 defeat against Swansea City at Wembley Stadium.
Playing in the FA Cup fourth round for the first time in 15 years, Bradford made a bright start. The former Chelsea youth-team midfielder Billy Knott worked tirelessly in behind the strikers, Stead and James Hanson.
But Bradford were breached in the 21st minute when Oscar slung over a corner and Cahill cleverly flicked it in on the volley with his right leg. Bradford’s thousands of fans behind the goal at the Shed End fell silent – as they did again in the 38th minute when Chelsea stretched their lead.
Ramires was the architect, winning the ball in midfield, and he strode forward purposefully. After exchanging passes with Mohamed Salah, he then guided the ball past the exposed Bradford goalkeeper, Ben Williams.
Bradford were far from done, though, and reduced the gap just three minutes later. Stead jockeyed on the edge of the area before unleashing a fierce shot that Petr Cech could only help on its way into the top right-hand corner of his net.
In the second half, Chelsea posed rather than probed. But few could have expected the dramatic finale. The Bradford winger Filipe Morais slid in the equaliser in the 75th minute after good work by Knott at the near post. Then Andy Halliday gave Bradford a stunning lead in the 82nd minute with a firm shot from Stead’s precise pass.
Chelsea, seven-times winners of the competition, seemed out – and Yeates made it reality when he tucked in Bradford’s fourth, from another slide-rule Stead pass, in stoppage time.
Chelsea’s quadruple was never on, anyway. Mourinho and company may now have to settle for the Capital One Cup, Premier League and Champions League treble. Overcoming Liverpool on Tuesday is now imperative.

===========

Telegraph:

Chelsea 2 Bradford 4

Visitors complete stunning comeback to eliminate Premier League leaders
FA Cup fourth round, Chelsea v Bradford - Jose Mourinho's side go 2-0 up, but are dumped out of the cup by the League One side


By  Jeremy Wilson, Stamford Bridge

The 6,000 ecstatic Bradford City fans who were packed into the Shed End at Stamford Bridge could no longer contain themselves. “You’re getting sacked in the morning, sacked in the morning,” they sang in unison, all pointing directly at Jose Mourinho.
It is fair to say that the self-styled ‘Special One’ has never experienced quite like it. His team had appeared to be coasting into the fifth round when they took a 2-0 lead but, by the end of 97 of the most thrilling and chaotic minutes in recent FA Cup history, they were licking the wounds of a 4-2 defeat.
As the fourth went in, Garth Crooks turned to a Bradford City reporter inside the Stamford Bridge press box and told him that he was watching history. He was right. Bradford’s last win at Stamford Bridge was way back in 1912 while Chelsea had been unbeaten at home in their previous 27 FA Cup  ties.
Mourinho had even said before the game that it would be “a disgrace” for his team to lose but, on the final whistle, he was left simply to turn towards Bradford manager Phil Parkinson and gesture his applause. It was a nice touch and utterly appropriate for a club now gaining a habit for Cup giant-killing after their elimination of Arsenal in the League Cup two seasons ago.
Jon Stead, in particular, was outstanding for Bradford in scoring one goal and then creating two others. With Mourinho selecting only three of what he would regard as his best starting XI, it was also a result that raises questions about the depth of his squad.
Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta and Oscar all remained from the usual Premier League team but, with Didier Drogba leading the line, and Petr Cech back in goal, two of the FA Cup’s most successful ever players were involved.
Unexpectedly, it was Cech who was first involved.
A shot from Gary Liddle had been headed over by Cahill, with Andrew Davies then sprinting in front of Drogba from the resulting corner and forcing a brilliant diving reaction save by Cech. It was the first clear sign that Bradford, roared on by a vocal travelling support, had not arrived with any acceptance that past history necessarily made this result inevitable.
Chelsea, though, did gradually establish their rhythm and appeared to have assumed control of the game.
Mohamed Salah forced a save from Ben Williams after Oscar’s pass. Oscar’s corner was then delivered towards Bradford near-post and, having got himself in front of Rory McArdle, Cahill produced a brilliantly improvised finish to guide his back-heeled volley past Williams. It seemed that the match was then effectively killed off after Chelsea took a 2-0 lead, with Ramires dispossessing Andy Halliday in central midfield and then, after an exchange of passes with Salah, side-footed his finish in off the post.
The celebration on the bench by captain John Terry underlined just how much Chelsea wanted to reclaim the trophy but Bradford still did not lose heart and grasped a lifeline shortly before half-time when Stead first created space outside Ramires and then smashed a powerful shot past Cech.
Chelsea’s now second-choice goalkeeper will surely feel that he should never concede at his near-post from the edge of the penalty but the sheer force of the shot had been sufficient to prevent Cech from getting a strong had on the ball.
The goal completely switched the momentum back for Bradford and, for 20 minutes at the start of the second half, Chelsea were subjected to sustained pressure and a series of corners.
Jon-Obi Mikel was forced off after a clash of heads with Billy Knott, prompting Cesc Fabregas to join Ramires in central midfield.
Salah was also removed midway through the second half on what might be his last Chelsea appearance although his replacement, Willian, must also feel under some added pressure amid the club’s interest in Douglas Costa and Juan Cuadrado.
Fabregas soon created an excellent chance for Oscar with a clever back-heel but his shot went wide. Bradford’s threat also remained and their equaliser was just reward for all their second-half endeavour.
James Meredith’s long throw was not dealt with by the Chelsea defence and, after Knott had swept the ball across the six-yard box, Felipe Morais arrived completely unmarked to shoot past Cech.
Mourinho’s immediate reaction was to replace Remy with Eden Hazard in an attempt to ensure no midweek trip to Yorkshire.
The desperation for a winner, though, was to again leave Chelsea extraordinarily open at the back. Stead, who had been superb for Bradford in holding the ball up and easing the pressure on his team collected a pass on the edge of the penalty area and again showed his physical strength and mental composure in gently teeing up Halliday.
There was still plenty to do but, directly in front of the Bradford fans, Halliday simply smashed his finish to the right of Cech.
He immediately sunk to his knees in celebration and covered his head in virtual disbelief. There was still 15 minutes to hold out but Chelsea, who had been unconvincing from start to finish, never really looked like crafting an equaliser, with Kurt Zouma smashing their best chance high into the Matthew Harding Stand.
When seven minutes went up on the board of fourth official Andre Marriner it seemed that there might be one final twist but, as Chelsea pushed forward, it came for Bradford, who sealed a remarkable win when Stead passed for Mark Yeates.

==================

Times:

Chelsea 2 Bradford 4: Bradford humiliate Mourinho

Paul Rowan

BRADFORD, cup upset specialists of recent years, surpassed themselves and provided one of the greatest upsets in the history of the FA Cup when they came from two goals down to put four past the Premier League leaders at Stamford Bridge. At the end, the jubilant Bradford players did a jig in front of the old Shed End,which has witnessed some great FA Cup moments down the years, some of them provided by the three pitch-side guests at half-time, Peter Bonetti, Ron Harris and John Hollins. However, this was Bradford’s day and it was their piece of history, when the Bantams puffed their chest out and delivered a devastating blow to the team widely accepted to be the best in the land.
As the three Chelsea legends from the FA Cup-winning team of 1970 were preparing to do their thing at half-time, Chelsea were shifting uneasily, as Jonathan Stead grabbed a late goal towards the end of the half which meant that Bradford were still in the game when everybody had written them off with Chelsea two goals up inside 40 minutes. The goal was no more than Bradford deserved but what happened in the second half took the breath away, as Phil Parkinson’s team dominated and struck three goals without reply, through Filipe Morais, Andy Halliday and Mark Yeates. 
Did Jose Mourinho, who said beforehand that it would be a “disgrace” if Chelsea lost, underestimate this Bradford team? Chelsea have the second leg of a League Cup semi-final against Liverpool on Tuesday and only two of the team which thrashed Swansea 5-0 last week started at the Bridge against Bradford. Among them was the Dane, Andreas Christensen, who has played in only one game, a League Cup tie against Shrewsbury, this season and there was also a rare start for Mohamed Salah, who is said to have had his chance at Chelsea and not taken it.
Mourinho spoke beforehand about how teams from the lower divisions were difficult to break down, but that seemed irrelevant when Chelsea took the lead in the 21st minute when Gary Cahill volleyed in Oscar’s corner at the near post, as Bradford’s defensive shape deserted them briefly.
Bradford were then hit on the break for the second goal on 38 minutes when Ramires robbed the holding midfielder Gary Liddle in the centre of the park. Ramires quickly fed Salah and was in the opposition penalty area in a flash. When the ball was returned to the Brazilian he had the straightforward task of side-footing the ball into a gaping net.
If that suggests that Bradford hadn’t parked the bus then it is not misleading. Parkinson, whose side are recently promoted to League One and are fighting for a playoff place, put out his regular side and played his regular diamond formation which has brought him plenty of success this season, albeit at a much lower level. 
With Billy Knott performing brilliantly in midfield, Bradford were getting plenty of dangerous balls into the box where their two big forwards, Stead and James Hanson, were winning the battle against Cahill and the less experienced Kurt Zouma.
In truth, Bradford had threatened from the off. Cahill had bravely blocked a thunderous shot from Liddle in the 13th minute, and from the subsequent corner, Andrew Davies produced a fine header which forced a diving save from Petr Cech. Five minutes before the end of the first half, just when the Bradford supporters were briefly silenced by Chelsea’s second, a Bradford free kick was cleared as far as the left-back James Meredith. He pulled the ball across the penalty area to the veteran Stead, who unleashed a fierce left-footed shot that Cech got an arm to but couldn’t prevent hitting the roof of the net.
That set the scene for an absorbing second half, and it was one Bradford dominated, their three goals fully deserved as Chelsea crumbled at the back under some intense pressure. Playing towards the Shed End filled by their 6,000 fervent supporters, Bradford made light of the two divisions and wealth gap that exists between the teams.
Bradford battered Chelsea with a succession of corners and the only surprise surrounding their equaliser in the 75th minute was how it turned the tables on the respective reputations of the two teams. A long throw into the penalty area by Meredith was headed on by Stead and Knott slid in to poke the ball at goal from close range. Cech had to produce another desperate save but the ball fell perfectly for Morais, the former Chelsea trainee, who swept it first time into the net from about 12 yards. 
At that stage Cesc Fabregas and Willian had been brought on, and it looked like the Spaniard’s probing might produce the winning goal for Chelsea. Instead it was Bradford who kept coming back at Chelsea when other teams might have sat back and tried to see the game out for a draw. On 82 minutes Stead again made himself a big presence in the box and when he pulled the ball back for Andy Halliday on the edge of the ‘D’, the midfielder’s aim was unerring and Bradford found themselves ahead for the first time. Mark Yeates’ sweet fourth goal in the 94th minute put the seal on the victory as he was played in by Stead.
At that stage Mourinho conceded victory, offering his hand to Parkinson even though the final whistle had yet to be blown, but Bradford’s manager had other things on his mind as Mourinho marched down the tunnel to leave the stage to Bradford, who fully enjoyed their moment of glory at the final whistle.

Star man: Jonathan Stead (Bradford)

Chelsea: Cech 6, Christensen 4, Cahill 5, Zouma 5, Azpilicueta 5, Ramires 5, Mikel 5 (Fabregas 71min, 6), Salah 5 (Willian 70min, 4), Oscar 4, Remy 4 (Hazard 76min, 6), Drogba 4
Bradford: Williams 7, Darby 7, McArdle 7, Davies 8, Meredith 8, Liddle 7, Morais 7 (Clarke 89min, 5), Knott 9 (Yeates 80min, 7), Halliday 7 (Routis 87min, 7), Stead 9, Hanson 8

================

Mail:

Chelsea 2-4 Bradford: League One side fight back from two goals down to ruin Jose Mourinho's chances of a historic quadruple

By Sami Mokbe

There are no words.
How do you even begin to start reporting what happened at Stamford Bridge.
If you think the FA Cup is dead, an after thought; you are wrong. Hugely wrong.
Two goals down against one of the most expensively-assembled squads in Europe, Bradford staged one of the biggest FA Cup giant-killings of all time, leaving Chelsea with a 4-2 win.
Jon Stead, Filipe Morais, Andy Halliday and Mark Yeates – Bradford's goalscorers – will be granted permanent membership into FA Cup folklore. But every player played their part. All heroes.
As for Jose Mourinho, his side's tilt at an historic quadruple is over.
His ego, and those of his players, is battered. But that's a story for another day.
This is Bradford's fairytale.
Chelsea, who were understrength, were cruising; goals from Gary Cahill and Ramires but them on course for a routine win.
But then that old FA Cup magic cast yet another spell; a spell that will leave Chelsea's players sleepless for the next few days.
The home side caught a glimpse of what was to follow when Peter Cech produced a brilliant instinctive save to deny Andrew Davies' bullet header inside the opening 15 minutes.
The save sparked the Blues, at least for time being, into action. First Loic Remy, playing as a right winger, and Oscar both went close before Gary Cahill broke the deadlock with the most nonchalant of finishes.
In meeting Oscar's near post corner, the England star mustered a cheeky flick with the outside of his boot – reminiscent of Blues legend Gianfranco Zola's famous strike against Norwich in 2002- that flew past Ben Williams' near post to put the Blues ahead.
And in the 38th minute the Blues notched their second; Ramires exchanging passes with Salah before cooly slotting past Williams.
Game over, right? Wrong.
As Chelsea failed to deal with Morais' corner, the ball fell to Billy Knott who found Stead on the edge of the box.
The former Blackburn striker took a touch before firing an unstoppable left-footed rocket past Cech.
This wasn't in the script for Mourinho's side. The FA Cup writes its own scripts, though.
Remy tried to restore the home side's two-goal advantage three minutes into the second period, but his half volley, following some excellent wing play from Salah, ballooned wide.
But that didn't nullify the momentum Bradford had gathered following's Stead's strike late in the first half.
Morais and Knott both fired wide whilst in good positions as the Bantams sensed an equaliser.
That was enough for Mourinho to send for the cavalry; Willian coming on for Salah, while Cesc Fabregas replaced Jon Obi Mikel, who needed treatment to a head injury after a collision with Knott.
Fabregas made an instant impact, locating Oscar with a brilliant flick only for the Brazil international to fire wide from a good position before watching Drogba head his well-flighted free-kick straight at Williams.
And a minute later – the unthinkable happened.
James Meredith's long throw was met by Andrew Davies, whose header found Knott who saw his shot parried by Cech.
But the rebound rolled into the direction of Morais. It must have seemed like an eternity for Morais as he waited for the ball to drop to his feet at the back post.
But it was worth the wait as he slotted home to send the visitor's into a frenzy.
As if the feat of a League One side coming back from two-down against the Premier League leaders wasn't dramatic enough; the sub-plot to the equaliser is worth considering.
Morais and Knott were both on Chelsea's books as youngsters. They'd dreamed of scoring or providing an assist at Stamford Bridge during those fledgling days.
Their dreams had come true, though, perhaps, not in the shirts they'd envisaged wearing.
Mourinho responded by throwing on Eden Hazard – the change didn't make a blind bit of difference though, as Bradford made history.
Latching on to Stead's lay-off, Halliday's career flashed in front of his eyes in the 82nd minute.
This was it. A moment that defines careers. Creates heroes. Creates legend.
And the midfielder didn't choke, quite the opposite in fact, cooly side-footing past Cech from the edge of the box.
Wow. Wow. Wow. Madness erupted from the vocal travelling support and the Bantams bench.
Bradford knew what was coming. The kitchen sink.
Drogba headed wide, before Kurt Zouma fired over the bar from close range after Ramires' cut-back.
And yet there was more drama, the fourth official signalling seven minutes of stoppage time – much to Parkinson's annoyance.
He needn't have worried, though, as substitute Mark Yeates notched a fourth after Stead's pass to secure the most famous of wins.
Mourinho had seen enough; approaching Parkinson before attempting to head down the tunnel early.
The Bradford boss wasn't having any of it, refusing to shake his counterpart's hand until the final whistle.
There were eventually hand shakes. Bradford was shaking on Saturday night, as well.

=================

Star:

Chelsea 2 - Bradford 4:
Mourinho's superstars humbled by Bantams comeback
Tony Stenson

Battling Bradford from League One came from two goals down to pull off an FA Cup sensation yesterday.
Late goals by Andy Halliday and sub Mark Yeates stunned Chelsea’s superstars and showed just why this magical competition is still so compelling.
Bradford boss Phil Parkinson said: “We have been to Wembley in the League Cup Final but when you consider who we played today and where we played, this has got to be the best performance of my life.
“It’s slowly sinking in. It's a great feeling and I am sure this result will be felt around the country.
“It is not something I dreamed of but I will accept it.
“As much as the goals were the highlights, the overall performance was amazing.
“We have sent a lot of people home happy.
“At two-nil down, I just wanted half-time to come quickly but when we got that goal back there was hope.
“Its a special day for our Chelsea old boys.
“Jose shook my hand early at 4-2 but I did not shake his then because there was still time for things to happen.
“He wasn’t being disrespectful, just accepting they had lost.
“I would now like next Manchester United – if they beat Cambridge in their replay.”
Names and reputations mean nothing when Wembley beckons for the minnows.
Bradford, cheered on by 5,000 noisy fans, deserve their moment in the sun.
They were superb from start to finish and inspired by the brilliance of Jon Stead and keeper Ben Williams.
Even seven minutes of added time failed to offer Chelsea hope as they were undone by a side which also contained old boys Jon Knott and goal hero Filipe Morais.
When Yeates added a fourth in the final minute of normal time, it was no surprise and it sparked a swift exodus of Chelsea fans all scratching their heads in utter disbelief at what they had just witnessed.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho said before the game it would be a “disgrace” if Chelsea lost to Bradford in the FA Cup.
He was right. Chelsea were a disgrace.
Chelsea are still fighting in three competitions but they will need better days than this.
Bradford had given Chelsea one hell of a scare as early as the 13th minute when Petr Cech needed to pull off a superb save to deny Andrew Davies’ header after a cross from Morais.
It wasn’t until Gary Cahill flicked in Oscar’s corner in the 20th minute did Chelsea relax.
Winger Mo Salah, linked with a move to several clubs during the transfer window, had started slowly, often running into blind alleys.
But he eventually got into the game by providing the pass for Ramires to score Chelsea’s second in the 38th minute, his flick going in via a post.
But if you thought then the game was over, Bradford’s heroes had other ideas.
Stead worked his way to the edge of the Chelsea box before hammering in a wicked, unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
Chelsea lost Jon Obi Mikel with a head injury and he was replaced by Cesc Fabregas, whose arrival finally gave them midfield stability and class.
That was until Bradford equalised in the 75th minute when James Meredith’s long throw was touched on by Davies.
Knott’s initial shot was saved by Cech only for Morais to score.
Even better was to come for the Bantams when Stead’s neat lay-off was dispatched by Halliday.
Kurt Zouma, deployed as an auxiliary striker, shot over from Ramires’ cross before Yeates struck a fourth to send the visiting fans delirious.
Acting skipper Didier Drogba missed a sitter as Chelsea eventually sent on all their big guns but they couldn’t prevent one of the biggest FA Cup shocks for many, many years.

Chelsea: Cech 7; Christensen 6, Zouma 6, Cahill 6, Azpilicueta 6; Ramires 6, Mikel 6 (Fabregas (69th) 5) Remy 5 (Hazard 76th) 5; Oscar 6, Salah 5 (Willian (69th) 5; Drogba 5
Bradford: Williams 7; Darby 6; McArdle 6, Davies 6, Meredith 6; Liddle 6; Morais 6 (Clarke 88th), Halliday 6 (Routis 86th); Knott 6 (Yeates 80th); Stead 8, Hanson 6
Star Man: Jon Stead
Ref: A Marriner

==================

Mirror:

Chelsea 2-4 Bradford: Blues crash out of FA Cup as Bantams run riot at Stamford Bridge
  
By Dave Kidd
 
Despite falling two goals behind Phil Parkinson's men stunned the Premier League leaders with four without reply to dump them out 
Jose Mourinho's hopes of an improbable Grand Slam of four trophies was wrecked by a miraculous comeback from League One Bradford.
Chelsea tossed away a two-goal lead as Phil Parkinson's Bantams pulled off a result as famous as any they achieved on their march to the Capital One Cup Final two seasons ago.
Jon Stead, former Chelsea kid Filipe Morais, Andy Halliday and Mark Yeates struck as City achieved one of the greatest FA Cup shocks of all time to dump out the Premier League leaders in the fourth round.
Mourinho had made NINE changes from the side which faced Liverpool in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday but saw them stroll into a 2-0 lead after 38 minutes, with goals from Gary Cahill and Ramires.
Petr Cech, who had kept three clean sheets when deputising for Thibaut Courtois recently, pulled off a wonder save, diving to his left to keep out an Andrew Davies header.
But Chelsea were ahead on 21 minutes when Cahill met Oscar's corner with a neat back-heeled flick at the near post – the sort of set-piece goal Bradford will have been sick to concede.
Didier Drogba had a curling effort pushed away by Ben Williams and Loic Remy squandered a couple of chances before Ramires added a classy second seven minutes before half-time.
The Brazilian surged forward, exchanged passes with Mo Salah, and side-footed home off the post.
It looked like game over but within three minutes, Bradford were back in the tie, when Stead lit rip with a shot that Cech could only help into the top corner of the net – injecting hope throughout their 6,000-strong away following.
After the break, Bradford enjoyed a serious spell of pressure, with former Morais forcing Cech to push over the bar.
Mourinho sent on Cesc Fabregas and Willian but when Chelsea failed to deal with a long throw from James Meredith, Morais stabbed home at the far post.
And with nine minutes remaining, Halliday sparked absolute bedlam when he lashed home from 20 yards after being teed up by Stead.
Kurt Zouma blazed over a glorious chance for Chelsea but when the fourth official raised the board for SEVEN minutes of injury-time, most expected Mourinho's men to get out of jail free.
Yet sub Yeates drilled home in the 93rd minute to settle one of the most astonishing matches in this competition's 143-year history.

===================

Express:

Chelsea 2 - Bradford City 4: Jose humbled by the Bantams' shining heroes

JOSE MOURINHO doesn’t like shocks. He hates disgrace. The Chelsea manager suffered both yesterday in his fortress of Stamford Bridge and he knew it was only what his team deserved.
By Jim Holden

As brave and brilliant Bradford scored their fourth and final goal, in stoppage time, Mourinho reacted to one of the all-time FA Cup upsets with applause for the victors as he stood in self-confessed “shame and embarrassment” on the touchline.
It was an amazing sight at the end of an astonishing afternoon.
League One minnows Bradford went 2-0 down, but then outplayed Premier League leaders Chelsea for the rest of the match, and thoroughly merited a famous triumph.
All four goals were created by excellent football against a team of experienced internationals like Ramires, Didier Drogba and Petr Cech, even if most of them are not now in Chelsea’s first-choice XI.
Don’t think this was a victory stolen with a backs-to-the wall performance, as many Cup shocks are. No, this was a sparkling win by the underdogs.
The evidence was there from the start. Bradford were clearly full of belief, hustling Chelsea with robust intent in midfield and showing composure in possession as well.
Only a magnificent save from Cech prevented an early headed goal from Andrew Davies.
The true surprise was that Chelsea took the lead with a cheap goal in the 21st minute as Gary Cahill flicked home a corner from Oscar.
Another easy goal arrived as Ramires stole possession with a midfield tackle and finished off a swift attack with a cool shot off the post.
Game over? Well, it would have been 999 times out of a thousand for minnows playing against a Mourinho team.
Instead, the passion and spirit of the Bradford fans transmitted itself to their players and a stirring fightback began with a scorching goal just before half-time when Jon Stead thundered a left-foot drive into the top corner. Mourinho demanded more from his players at the break. He received a great deal less.
Chelsea were penned back into their own half for long spells as Bradford chased the glory of an equaliser. Cech saved superbly again from Filipe Morais, and the home side became ever-more shaky at corners.
Clever work from a throw-in created the second Bradford goal, Morais slotting home into an open net after an initial effort was stopped by Cech.
Mourinho was livid on the bench. He sent on three musketeer substitutes in Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Willian. He had every right to expect the relief of a winning goal – instead there was humiliation.
The craft came from Bradford with a clinical passing move in the 82nd minute that allowed Andy Halliday to fire home their third goal.
Now the game was mayhem as Chelsea chased redemption, but the best chance fell to centre-half Kurt Zouma who blazed high over the bar as the match went into seven minutes of added time.
Of course, the trick is to keep your cool. Bradford were far superior in that regard yesterday, and in the 94th minute one more composed and precise passing move put substitute Mark Yeates clear in the Chelsea penalty area to plunge the final dagger into Mourinho’s side.
Mourinho had said he was seeking the fabled Quadruple of trophies in one season. It is an impossible dream, but never before has a club of such stature been so comprehensively humbled on its own patch.

CHELSEA: Cech, Christensen, Zouma, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Oscar, Mikel (Fabregas 70), Salah (Willian 70), Drogba, Remy (Hazard 76).
BRADFORD: Williams, Darby, McArdle, Davies, Meredith, Knott (Yeates 80), Liddle, Morais (Clarke 89), Halliday (Routis 87), Hanson, Stead.
Ref: A Marriner

Liverpool 1-1

Independent:

Raheem Sterling's magical goal shares the spoils in Capital One Cup semi-final
 
Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1

Sam Wallace  


It was a goal scored in the blink of an eye: a turn, a run and a shot that told you all you needed to know about the big-match temperament of Raheem Sterling.

This Capital One Cup semi-final tie goes to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday nicely poised, and with a marginal advantage to Chelsea who play the second leg at home, but it would have been so much less promising for Brendan Rodgers’ side without a brilliant second half equaliser from Sterling. At 20 years old he has met every challenge presented so far head on and now finds himself approaching the big games when finals and trophies are at stake.

The young Englishman was the outstanding player on a night when Liverpool had to fight their way back into a match that they could quite easily have allowed to slip away after Eden Hazard’s 19th-minute penalty. There were fine performances from Jordan Henderson and Martin Skrtel, and the occasional burst from Philippe Coutinho, but it was Sterling to whom the eye was drawn to again and again.

In the land of the giants – John Terry, Gary Cahill, Nemanja Matic and Thibaut Courtois – it was the little chap in Liverpool’s No 31 shirt who made the best chances for Liverpool, who had 20 attempts on goal to Chelsea’s two. The greatest compliment you could give Sterling was that with Hazard threatening to decide the game it was the Englishman who wrenched it back for his team.

As Rodgers later said, the break in Jamaica has refreshed Sterling and Liverpool, now unbeaten in nine games go to Stamford Bridge with at least the chance of an upset. Away goals will count only after extra-time is played. Sterling will be crucial. He has run through this Chelsea defence once already and it looks like he will have to do it again for Liverpool to make the final.

Eden Hazard puts Chelsea in front from the spot Eden Hazard puts Chelsea in front from the spot  Rodgers hinted afterwards that Daniel Sturridge could also be back in a week’s time but there have been too many false dawns where his fitness is concerned for anyone to be sure. The Liverpool manager went on the front foot after the match, proclaiming his team could win at Stamford Bridge and bemoaning the decisions that went against Liverpool.

It is true that there was a case for a penalty against Diego Costa for a first half handball, and that in the 77th-minute Thibaut Courtois may well have handled outside the area. For all Liverpool’s best moments, Rodgers knows that Chelsea remain a formidable opponent capable of breaking the hearts of their opposition in an instant.

Impressive in the first half they slipped a little after the break and one wonders if Mourinho’s untouchables are starting to find the pace of the season a little unrelenting. Their outstanding player was Courtois while Cahill and Matic found their shortcomings exposed in a way that was rare at the start of the season.

A goal down at half-time Liverpool had not had a bad first half, even if there was a bit too much of what Mourinho might have called “sterile possession” and not enough of the chances that might test Courtois. Liverpool looked at their best when Sterling dragged Cahill into the wide areas or Lazar Markovic got at them down the right side.

There were glimpses from Coutinho in the early stages of the half, and more than once he had quicker feet than John Obi Mikel, the second change after Courtois from the team that beat Swansea 5-0 at the weekend. Mikel is brought in when Mourinho wants to reinforce the protection of his back four, and in this case he moved Cesc Fabregas forward to the No 10 role and dropped Oscar to the bench.

For all the fleet-footedness of Sterling, Markovic and Coutinho in the first half, not to mention 63 per cent possession, the best attempt on goal from Liverpool before the break was a sweetly struck, dipping Steven Gerrard shot that Courtois pushed one-handed over the bar.

The request from Mourinho that the Chelsea support lay off that song about the Liverpool captain was ignored – naturally - and there might even have been a brief shake of the head from the away team’s manager when it first began. Gerrard, starting out on the right came in and out the game in the first half which was as good as Mourinho could have hoped for.

On the counter-attack, Chelsea always looked extremely dangerous – especially with Liverpool’s back three square on and Fabregas looking to drop the ball over the top for Hazard to run onto. Their goal began with a darting run from Fabregas down the left to the byline that Emre Can should have stopped and, failing to do so, he chased the pass to the feet of Hazard and made the challenge that cost his side a penalty.

It only takes the slightest misjudgement when challenging Hazard to turn a routine tackle into a catastrophe. So it was with Can, who took enough of the winger’s leg to give referee Martin Atkinson an easy decision. From the penalty spot it seemed like Hazard only needed a twitch of the eyebrows for Simon Mignolet to fling himself to the wrong corner.

Emre Can (right) reacts after Chelsea score with the penalty Emre Can (right) reacts after Chelsea score with the penalty  A goal down, Liverpool kept their patience but created precious few chances up to the break. There were cheap bookings for Gerrard and Lucas Leiva and then another for Filipe Luis to even things up. The ball struck the wrist of Costa while he was grounded in his own area. A difficult decision at the best of times but Atkinson was never going to try to call it through a thicket of players that gave him no view of it whatsoever.

It changed after half-time and the confidence with which Chelsea had corralled and controlled the possession that Liverpool enjoyed seemed to slacken. Rodgers’ team started to get at them and when the equaliser arrived just before the hour it was well-deserved.

Sterling took the goal brilliantly: a ball down the middle from Henderson, a turn and acceleration from his English team-mate and a great finish. Watching again it was evident that even as the ball came to Sterling in the area, Matic was nowhere near close enough. Sterling sprang away from him in a few steps, caught Cahill flat-footed and darted left, shooting low past Courtois.

Raheem Sterling powers through the Chelsea defence Raheem Sterling powers through the Chelsea defence  Back level, Liverpool had greater confidence and Coutinho made a return to the action. It was the Brazilian who darted down the left and cut the ball back for Gerrard whose left-foot shot Courtois did not even try to save. It clipped the outside of the Chelsea post and went behind.

The Liverpool captain went off after 70 minutes, replaced by Adam Lallana and Rodgers’ team looked the stronger in the closing stages. Sterling’s knockdown for Lallana on 79 minutes gave the scope for a shot that was brilliantly saved by Courtois. It was his wrist that may have made contact with the ball outside the box but it was impossible for Atkinson to see definitively. It was Chelsea hanging on come the end.


Liverpool (3-4-3): Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Sakho; Markovic, Lucas, Henderson, Moreno; Gerrard Sterling, Coutinho.

Subs: Lallana/Gerrard 70

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Filipe Luis; Matic, Mikel; Hazard, Fabregas, Willian; Costa.

Subs: Azpilicueta/Willian 88

Referee: M Atkinson.

Rating: 7

Man of the match: Sterling

Booked: Liverpool Gerrard, Lucas Chelsea Luis, Mikel


==================

Guardian:

Raheem Sterling earns Liverpool first-leg draw against Chelsea

Liverpool 1 - 1 Chelsea

Daniel Taylor at Anfield


By the end, Liverpool were left to reflect on the moment in the second half when Steven Gerrard had the chance to win the match, in front of the Kop, where a banner had been raised before kickoff proclaiming him as “The best there is, the best there was, and the best there will ever be”. Gerrard had been mercilessly taunted again by Chelsea’s supporters and he had played as if determined to turn the volume down. This was his best opportunity, 12 yards out, but his shot hit a post and the moment was gone.

There were other chances for Liverpool to win it, on a night when Chelsea were indebted to Thibaut Courtois’ goalkeeping, and the home side had enough momentum after Raheem Sterling’s equaliser to justify the view of Brendan Rodgers that they ought to be taking a first-leg lead into the return game at Stamford Bridge next week.

Gerrard was among a number of excellent performers and Chelsea had to absorb some concerted pressure before José Mourinho could reflect on a reasonably satisfying night’s work. His team will begin the second leg as marginal favourites, largely because of Eden Hazard’s 18th-minute penalty, but it might just be that Rodgers’ players reminded themselves of something with this performance.

They showed they could take on the best team in the country and cause them prolonged problems and if nothing else that is a start, bearing in mind the way the two sides have gone in different directions since the end of last season. Mourinho described it afterwards as a fair result and Rodgers smiled knowingly at that one. “It’s fair when you should lose,” he pointed out.

Liverpool were sharp in possession, passing the ball crisply and displaying little of the self-doubt that was evident here earlier in the season, when Chelsea won so convincingly the 2-1 scoreline felt like a deception. This time Chelsea moved the ball in a way that had Mourinho complaining afterwards about an unusual level of carelessness, particularly when they had the chance to break and get behind the Liverpool defence. “We missed so many passes,” he said. “Recover the ball, lose the ball; recover the ball, lose the ball.”

Rodgers was also slightly exasperated, arguing that Liverpool should have had a penalty at the end of the first half when Diego Costa handled the ball. The referee, Martin Atkinson, did not have a good vantage point and the Liverpool manager was aggrieved, too, that Courtois was not penalised after sliding out to gather the ball, at 1-1, only for his momentum to take him outside the box.

The worrying part for Liverpool is that there is a recurring theme about the way their shortcomings in defence tend to undermine the entire team. At one stage in the first half the ball was hooked clear from inside Chelsea’s penalty area and from nothing more refined than a long punt forward there were suddenly two visiting players bearing down on one defender. Rodgers’ team are still getting used to a new system of three central defenders and as long as it remains a work in progress, their opponents will always be encouraged.

The penalty was the case in point. Emre Can was caught out by Cesc Fàbregas’s run to the byline and clipped Hazard in a clumsy attempt to rectify the situation. Hazard calmly beat Simon Mignolet from the spot and, after that, Chelsea seemed content to sit on their lead when it might have worked in their favour to pose more questions of Liverpool’s defence and examine the current state of Mignolet’s goalkeeping.

Costa spent a lot of the night trying to get under the skin of anyone in a red shirt rather than managing anything more constructive. In the first half he caught Can in the face with a hand. Later there was a stand-off with Jordan Henderson, followed by the Chelsea striker apparently trying to tread on his opponent’s foot. There is always a bit of needle when these teams meet and though Costa was responsible for much of it, there was also a contemptible piece of play-acting from Lazar Markovic to make out Filipe Luís had struck him in the face.

It suited Chelsea better for the game to become fractured and niggly and early in the second half Liverpool looked as though they had lost some of their momentum. Yet it was a brilliant piece of individual play from Sterling for his goal and Rodgers talked afterwards about his player being rejuvenated after a recent break.

Sterling initially had his back to goal when he collected Henderson’s pass, 40 yards from goal, but his change of direction and burst of acceleration opened up the entire Chelsea defence. Sterling was past Nemanja Matic first then picked up speed as he went to the left of Gary Cahill and, running at full pelt, found the bottom corner with a left-foot shot to leave this semi-final delicately poised.


================

Telegraph:

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1

Raheem Sterling effort fires fightback ahead of Stamford Bridge return leg

Capital One Cup semi-final first leg – Londoners withstand second-half assaults to remain favourites to reach League Cup final

By  Henry Winter

The Kop saluted Thibaut Courtois as he ran towards them for the second half, and he returned their traditional show of respect to visiting goalkeepers with applause of his own. The Kop could have been forgiven for cursing him 45 minutes later. Courtois made a string of saves to ensure Chelsea emerged from another intense evening at Anfield as favourites to reach Wembley.

It would neither have flattered Liverpool nor been a misleading scoreline had Chelsea returned south trailing at the halfway stage of this thrilling Capital One Cup semi-final. Liverpool were so good in the second half, storming towards the Kop, their movement spiced by the running of the effervescent Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho. Courtois needed to be at his alert, athletic best.

Sterling, who looked revitalised by his break in Jamaica, did find a way past Courtois after 59 minutes but the Belgian denied Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson, Coutinho and also Sterling in the second half. He also saved from Steven Gerrard in the first. Jose Mourinho’s decision to recall Courtois, even though Petr Cech had been doing superbly, was utterly vindicated.

Courtois’s performance was key. Liverpool enjoyed 62 per cent possession, managing 20 attempts on goal to Chelsea’s two, six on target to the visitors’ one, which was Eden Hazard’s penalty after 18 minutes.

Liverpool had seven corners, seven more than Chelsea. The numbers made brutal reading for Mourinho’s side. Yet they had Courtois. They had a wall built from Belgian block.

Courtois dealt with the danger. He stood firm when Liverpool’s 3-4-3 system really did click, when Liverpool refound the sort of intensity and momentum that carried them so far last season. Courtois made the saves when Nemanja Matic and John Obi Mikel were being bypassed in midfield, when John Terry and Gary Cahill were being out outmanoeuvred at the back. He ensured his team will start as favourites next Tuesday. Of Chelsea’s 15 home games this season in all competitions, they have won 14 and drawn one (with Schalke). They will expect to be in the March 1 final.

Courtois and Sterling contributed immeasurably to another absorbing chapter of Liverpool-Chelsea tear-ups. So much recent history hangs over this fixture, a point made by many of the 44,573 crowd. Even before kick-off, Chelsea fans were singing about Gerrard’s slip last April despite Mourinho’s request for them to desist. The Kop responded by hoisting a new banner in tribute to their departing captain, proclaiming him “the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be”. As the game kicked off, the away supporters resumed celebrating Gerrard’s mistake. Mourinho shook his head.

Gerrard started on the right of Liverpool’s attacking three, working with the wing-back Lazar Markovic, and looking to release Sterling through the middle while Coutinho glided in from the left. Gerrard unleashed a magnificent dipping 30-yarder that Courtois did well to push over, denying Gerrard what would have been only his second goal in 38 games against Chelsea.

But it was Rodgers’s positioning of Emre Can as the right-sided of the three centre-backs that had caused most surprise and soon debate. After 17 minutes, Cesc Fabregas ran in from the left, scattering Liverpool defenders all over the place.

Quick to exploit the space, Hazard seized on the loose ball, the speed and angle of his movement catching out Can. He may wear No 23 but Can is no Jamie Carragher. He may have played centre-back in German age-group games but not against the quality of maestros such as Hazard. He may have made some promising runs from defence but his main priority was to deal with Hazard. Can, though, was on the wrong side of Hazard, and his inelegant attempt to retrieve the ball ended with him knocking the Belgian over.

The referee, Martin Atkinson, was perfectly placed to assess the situation, and calmly pointed to the spot. Penalties have been a talking point on Merseyside this week, especially with Belgians in blue. Demonstrating greater accuracy than Everton’s Kevin Mirallas, Hazard took the ball, placed it on the spot, stared at Simon Mignolet and then calmly sent the Liverpool keeper the wrong way.

The Gerrard sub-plot continued. Liverpool fans had a flag beseeching the team to “get Gerrard to Wembley” before he heads to LA where the thermometer was touching 25C. Back at Ice Station Anfield, Chelsea supporters greeted the sight of Jordan Henderson losing his footing with a chant of: “Are you Gerrard in disguise?” They particularly enjoyed Liverpool’s No 8, the man who twice rejected Chelsea’s advances, being booked for tripping Hazard.

Liverpool finished the half strongly, setting the scene for their second-half brio. Coutinho had a shot deflected over. Markovic raced down the right, his progress ended by Filipe Luis throwing out a hand and catching him in the neck, although the Serbian milked the contact, ensuring the Brazilian’s booking.

The half ended with Liverpool appealing loudly for a penalty. Can, whose forward ventures were promising, leapt with Diego Costa, who fell on the cold turf. As Markovic and Luis competed for the ball it rolled on to the hand of the prostrate Costa. Atkinson waved all pleas away, especially that of Markovic.

Liverpool raised their tempo after the break, arriving early for the restart, their determination clear in the way Henderson stood his ground, squaring up to Costa. They still had to survive an early scare when Fabregas’s dummy allowed Costa to race through but Mignolet came out sharply to clear.

Rodgers’s side were now attacking the Kop, as is their usual second-half desire. Sterling was building up steam, although one run ended up in a total tangle with Terry, the pair resembling Greco-Roman wrestlers.

Liverpool’s pressure told, finally opening up a defence that had not been breached for 341 minutes, dating back to Nacer Chadli’s goal for Spurs at White Hart Lane on New Year’s Day. Henderson stroked the ball through the middle, through the gap between Matic and Mikel. Sterling collected, turned quickly, accelerated away from Matic and then Cahill, who seemed almost too scared to make any challenge. Sterling’s finish was expert, placed with too much pace and accuracy for Courtois.

The attention briefly turned back to Gerrard, who controlled Coutinho’s pass and threaded a left-footed shot against a post. Gerrard sat on his haunches, and held his head in his hands. He was then withdrawn by Rodgers, receiving applause and a handshake from Mourinho.

Courtois, who was fortunate that Atkinson did not notice that he handled just outside the box, prevented further damage, showing his reflexes in keeping out a strike from Henderson and then Sterling.

Gerrard’s replacement, Adam Lallana, then tried his luck, testing Courtois, who again repelled the danger with another exceptional save.

Chelsea were being penned deep, although they did break out when Costa tried to win a penalty with a touch of simulation that fooled nobody. The final whistle was greeted with great appreciation by the Liverpool fans of their players’ contribution, but Courtois and company walked away with the air of a team convinced they would finish the job at the Bridge.


==============

Times:

Mourinho avoids Anfield anguish in thrilling tie of old

Oliver Kay

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1

There were times at Anfield last night when it felt like the fans had been transported back to the days when Liverpool and Chelsea locked horns in the Champions League semi-finals on an almost annual basis. The difference was that, far from those days of cagey, chess-like affairs, this was a terrific spectacle in which Chelsea were indebted to the brilliance of Thibaut Courtois.

Rarely this season have José Mourinho’s team been pinned up against the ropes quite like they were in the closing stages last night. That they will remain favourites going into the eagerly awaited second leg of this Capital One Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, is down to some typically resilient defending and an superb display from Courtois in goal.

Liverpool have rediscovered some of their swagger since the dark days of autumn, but this was a performance that called to mind the vibrant creative quality they showed last season. It deserved a better reward than a draw, but Brendan Rodgers left the ground firm in his belief that his team can cause Chelsea problems in the second leg.

As an attacking force, Liverpool were dominant, controlling possession for long periods and showing the ingenuity to stretch the Chelsea defence. They fell behind to Eden Hazard’s penalty, but responded well to claim an equaliser through Raheem Sterling’s solo goal just before the hour. After that, with John Terry and his team-mates reduced to a backs-against-the-wall exercise, it was the heroics of Courtois that helped Chelsea to retain parity, making a series of excellent saves from Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson, Sterling and Adam Lallana.

The presence of Courtois in the starting line-up was a reminder of how seriously Chelsea are taking this competition. To date this season, Mourinho had used the tournament as a rare showcase for Petr Cech — hardly a weak link as deputy goalkeepers go — but his decision to recall Courtois reflected an unwillingness to leave anything to chance. Harsh as it was on Cech, Courtois was excellent.

This, remarkably, was the two clubs’ 20th meeting in a cup competition since Roman Abramovich’s arrival at Chelsea in 2003. The most memorable have come in the Champions League, even if those three semi-finals between 2005 and 2008 are recalled primarily for their nerve-shredding drama and tactical intrigue rather than pulsating excitement.

Chelsea are always braced for a battle when they go to Anfield. Against a re-energised Liverpool, with Sterling refreshed by his mid-season break, they knew what was coming. As the home team set the early tempo with crisp passing and clever movement, it must have been clear to Terry, having talked of feeling redundant in the 5-0 victory away to Swansea City three days earlier, that he and Gary Cahill would face some difficult questions.

Liverpool made all the early running, but carving out clear opportunities was easier said than done. Henderson forced his way into the penalty area from Sterling’s pass, but, with his England team-mate out wide, there was nobody there to challenge for the ball. Steven Gerrard struck a 30-yard shot that seemed to be dipping under the crossbar, but Courtois was equal to it.

The home team looked assured, but deploying Emre Can on the right-hand side of a back three looked a risk against an opponent such as Hazard. On 18 minutes, he found himself up against Cesc Fàbregas, who beat him before switching the ball to Hazard in the area. Racing back to try to rescue the situation, Can barged into Hazard, who tumbled to the floor. The Belgian calmly stroked past Simon Mignolet, the Liverpool goalkeeper, to give Chelsea the lead.

That was one of only two shots the west London club mustered all evening. The statistics showed that Liverpool had hit 20, but, for all the promptings of Gerrard, Sterling and Coutinho, and the willingness of Can and Lazar Markovic to carry the ball forward, it took a long time before they began to penetrate the Chelsea defence. Their main frustration of the first half was an unsuccessful penalty appeal, when a prone Diego Costa handled the ball away from Markovic.

Liverpool began the second half just as they had the first, pushing forward in search of a goal, but there was the odd sign that their momentum was slowing as the hour mark approached. Then, in the 59th minute, Sterling received the ball from Henderson with his back to goal, turned sharply away from Nemanja Matic, took the ball wide of Cahill and beat Courtois with a low drive into the far corner — a delightful contribution from a player who is still striving to add a killer instinct to his game.

That brought Chelsea out of their shell, but Mourinho was frustrated by their inability to exploit Hazard’s threat on the counterattack, while Costa was being eclipsed, by fair means or foul, by the uncompromising Martin Skrtel. Midway through the second half, Coutinho beat Cahill down the left-hand side and picked out Gerrard, who steadied himself but found only the outside of a post.

That was to be the captain’s final contribution. Having struggled with a hamstring problem over the past week, he made way for Lallana with 20 minutes remaining. Courtois was tested well by Coutinho, then, within a matter of seconds, by Henderson and Sterling. He had a let-off when appearing to handle the ball outside the penalty area as he dived at the feet of Sterling, but then came his best save yet, diving to his right to push Lallana’s vicious shot around his right-hand post.

The feeling persists, though, that Liverpool’s best chance to reach the final might have come and gone last night. Whenever these two clubs met in two-legged Champions League ties, the club who played away from home in the first leg emerged triumphant with home advantage in the second. Under Rodgers, Liverpool have a different, more daring approach, but they will have to be at their best if they are to buck that particular trend.


Liverpool (3-4-2-1): S Mignolet — E Can, M Skrtel, M Sakho — L Markovic, J Henderson, L Leiva, A Moreno — S Gerrard (sub: A Lallana, 70min), P Coutinho — R Sterling. Substitutes not used: D Ward, J Manquillo, J Enrique, J Rossiter, F Borini, R Lambert. Booked: Lucas, Gerrard.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): P Courtois – B Ivanovic, G Cahill, J Terry, F Luís — J O Mikel, N Matic — Willian (sub: C Azpilicueta, 88), C Fàbregas, E Hazard — D Costa. Substitutes not used: P Cech, K Zouma, Ramires, Oscar, D Drogba, L Rémy. Booked: Luís, Mikel.

Referee: M Atkinson.


==========


Mail:

Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea:

Raheem Sterling equalises after Eden Hazard's penalty in thrilling Capital One Cup semi-final first leg

Martin Samuel for the Daily Mail

It was what one might call a Michael Owen moment. Maybe a Jimmy Greaves moment for those whose memory extends to football's golden age. Raheem Sterling turned and ran, straight at the heart of the Chelsea defence. You know, like the great goalscorers do.

In that instant of pure athletic acceleration nobody could live with him. Not Nemanja Matic, the stand-out defensive midfield player of this season, not Gary Cahill who appeared to be plodding through quick-drying cement by comparison.

Sterling, having dropped deep to receive the pass, was reaching top gear as he arrived in the penalty area, yet he didn't look at all hurried. As Thibaut Courtois began his advance he slipped the ball smartly past him and into the far corner. It was a gem of a goal, worthy of winning any match. That it only achieved parity for Liverpool is testament to Chelsea's defensive resilience.

It was going to take something exceptional to breach that defence, and Sterling provided it.

Credit, also, to his manager Brendan Rodgers. After the Christmas and New Year fixtures he gave Sterling time off to recharge his batteries, as promised.

Sterling was pictured holidaying in Jamaica. Some mocked. Who do they think they are these softy footballers, unable to play a full season without taking off to the Caribbean? And how foolish is that mug of a manager to fall for it? Yet Sterling played as if revived.

He was a proper handful, buzzing around Chelsea's back line, desperately trying to make up for the absence of a genuine striker in Liverpool's ranks. With Daniel Sturridge still missing it speaks volumes that Rodgers prefers Sterling to either Rickie Lambert or Mario Balotelli. Certainly it is hard to imagine either of his rivals scoring a goal of that quality on current form.

Just like Sterling's trip to Jamaica, that was a bold managerial move. It would have been very easy for Mourinho to keep Petr Cech in goal for one last game - particularly as this competition is regarded as the least important of Chelsea's quartet of campaigns.

Instead, Courtois was recalled immediately, and was superb in keeping Liverpool at bay. He saved from Philippe Coutinho in the 67th minute, from Jordan Henderson after 75 minutes and from Sterling again when he tried to capitalise on the rebound a second later.

True, Courtois rode his luck when, in gathering the ball under pressure from Sterling, he began to slide out of his area and regained control only with his elbow.

It should have been a free-kick for handling, and in a dangerous area just outside the box, but referee Martin Atkinson waved it away. Moments later, the Belgian made amends with a quite magnificent stop from Sterling. Without him, this match could have got away from Chelsea.

They will most certainly have felt greatly relieved when Steven Gerrard shot against the post after 66 minutes. Coutinho set him up and the goal was open in front of The Kop.

Perhaps he tried to place it too perfectly. With the momentum of a Gerrard goal at the right end, Liverpool's head of steam may have proved unstoppable.

Gerrard was taken off soon after, no doubt with mixed emotions. He had more than played his part in Liverpool's comeback but that miss will have weighed heavily. It will be all about him again at Stamford Bridge, too, with Chelsea's travelling contingent ignoring Mourinho's plea to show respect for a great player.

The game hadn't even kicked off when the blue corner began taunting Liverpool's captain about the famous slip. The home fans immediately replied with their tribute and at one point in the first half the entire ground was singing Gerrard's name, with levels of appreciation at opposite extremes.

Gerrard has heard it all before, of course, and as expected no man did more to try to get Liverpool's noses in front. This being his last season at Anfield there is almost an entire area of The Kop reserved for Gerrard-related banners.

'The best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be,' said the largest, and most poetic - although it's a depressing thought if the best Liverpool will ever have retires without a league championship winners medal.

A more attainable ambition was contained in the message 'Get Gerrard to Wembley'. As usual, though, if you want anything done properly do it yourself, and in the first half at least the duties of propelling Liverpool forward fell to the usual suspect again.

It was Gerrard who forced the only two saves from Courtois in the first half, Gerrard who was involved in just about every Liverpool move that was memorable or incisive. A fierce shot, 35 yards out, demanded the first stop of the game, then, when Gary Cahill fouled Sterling on the left, it was Gerrard who curled a vicious free-kick in from a tight angle, bringing Courtois into action once more.

That he did this in front of Chelsea’s mocking fans made the attempt all the more ambitious. Every neutral must have secretly wished for the perfect retort. The effect of his absence next season is close to incalculable.

Chelsea, by contrast, had one first-half chance, and took it - from the penalty spot.

Cesc Fabregas played the ball inside to Eden Hazard, who was bundled over clumsily by Emre Can. Atkinson had no doubt and Hazard stepped up to capitalise on his work. Belgian against Belgian, he sent Simon Mignolet the wrong way, planting the ball low to the right.

Liverpool will claim the award was soft, but they won’t have much of a case. Can took a chance stepping into Hazard; a penalty the likely outcome. Knowing what we know of Chelsea it was always a foolhardy move. Goals like Sterling’s come rarely, Chelsea nick results like this in their sleep.


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Mirror:


Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Brilliant Raheem Sterling drags Reds level in first leg of League Cup semi-final

By Dave Kidd

 
The England star netted a fine solo goal to cancel out Eden Hazard's first-half penalty in an exciting game at Anfield

In the stifling humidity of the jungle at the World Cup, Raheem Sterling appeared to have ice in his veins.

And on a bone-chilling night on Merseyside, Sterling turned on the after-burners to gift Anfield a warm glow.

He is a young man for all seasons and for many different positions too – on the wing, in the hole and just now, as an increasingly impressive centre-forward.

Sterling’s brilliant equaliser ensured that Chelsea’s unlikely march on a Grand Slam of trophies was slowed down significantly in this Capital One Cup semi-final first leg.

He tortured his England team-mate Gary Cahill and inspired a vibrant Liverpool performance, which deserved to take a lead back to Stamford Bridge next Tuesday.

Instead they head to the capital on level terms, but certain that they possess a potential match-winner in Sterling.

The kid had provided a rare plus point in England’s doomed Brazilian campaign, especially when glorious in defeat against Italy in the rain-forest clearance of Manaus.

He hit the ground running this season too, then suffered a slump, before his switch to a striking role coincided with Liverpool going on this nine-match unbeaten run.

Chelsea had looked like chalking up a third win at Anfield in just nine months when they led through an early Eden Hazard penalty.

But Liverpool dominated the second half, forcing Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois into a string of saves and keeping Brendan Rodgers dreaming of a first trophy in three years at Anfield.

Liverpool, save for Simon Mignolet, were gloveless in the snow, as if a statement of intent. Mourinho showed them respect by employing John Obi Mikel as an extra holding midfielder.

Yet there was precious little respect from the travelling supporters for Steven Gerrard, predictably pilloried for the pratfall which cost his club the title last term – despite Mourinho having urged them not to.

Rodgers’ side made the slicker start, their passing crisper, their movement sharper.

On 16 minutes, Philippe Coutinho fed Gerrard for a fizzing 25-yarder, forcing Thibaut Courtois to push over the bar.

Yet almost immediately, Chelsea were in front. Cesc Fabregas scampered down the left and cut-back for Hazard, who fell after a clumsy challenge from Emre Can.

It was a bold shout from Martin Atkinson to award the spot-kick in front of The Kop, but probably correct. Hazard tucked it into the corner of the net, sending his fellow Belgian Mignolet the wrong way.

Chelsea had pinpointed Can as the weak link on the right-hand side of Liverpool’s back three and, through Hazard and Diego Costa, they victimised him mercilessly.

Gerrard and Lucas were both booked in quick succession for clattering Hazard. The little maestro is a glutton for it, apparently immune to bruising, he kept getting up and running at the Liverpool defence.

Sterling, though, was causing mischief, leaving Cahill leaden-footed more than once, before a fiery old end to the first half.

First Lazar Markovic went down as if shot in the face after a push in chest from Felipe Luis. Then Rodgers led furious protests as Costa appeared to handle while floored in his own area, Atkinson turning down the penalty shouts and leaving the field to a hostile choir.

This feeling of indignation seemed to turn the volume on The Kop up a notch after the break and Liverpool responded in kind, increasing the tempo and pressing Chelsea further up the pitch.

On 59 minutes, they were deservedly level when Jordan Henderson slid a pass forward for Sterling and the England forward pressed down on the gas pedal, swivelling past Nemanja Matic – who was never tight enough – then outpacing Cahill to drill inside the far post.

Suddenly the confidence was pulsing through the home team, through the entire stadium, and Chelsea found themselves seized by the throat and pinned against the wall.

A smart passing move ended with a Coutinho cut-back to Gerrard, whose left-foot shot shook a post.

Then Coutinho let rip and forced a decent save from Courtois, who then went unpunished for handling outside the box as he slid out to deny Sterling.

Sterling forced a double-save from Courtois, then sub Adam Lallana demanded the best of the lot with a bending shot.

By the time Gerrard was withdrawn 20 minutes from time, he’d provided another glaring piece of evidence as to the premature nature of his semi-retirement in the States.

Sterling forced a double-save from Courtois, then sub Adam Lallana demanded the best of the lot with a bending shot as Liverpool ended up deserving more.


==============


Express:

Liverpool 1 - Chelsea 1: Raheem Sterling races to the rescue for the Reds

THE final piece of advice Brendan Rodgers offered his Liverpool players before kick-off was to make sure they arrived in London next week with their hopes of silverware still intact. They are more than alive. They are there to be realised.

By Paul Joyce


It will require a monumental effort to leave Stamford Bridge next Tuesday with the win needed to seal a 12th appearance in the final of the League Cup, but in pegging Chelsea back here so Liverpool allowed themselves to dream.

Jose Mourinho knows his side will be favourites, but his semi-final record against familiar foes means he will take nothing for granted. Anfield was not the graveyard to Chelsea’s aspirations as it has been in the past, but neither did it bring them as much joy as they would have expected when taking an early advantage through Eden Hazard’s penalty.

It would be wrong to say the visitors let the initiative slip when the reality is that it was as much wrenched from their grasp by Liverpool’s refusal to wilt and Raheem Sterling’s ability to conjure moments of individual brilliance.

Liverpool created a pocket of space when Jordan Henderson strode through a previously congested midfield and found Sterling, but the youngster’s jet-heeled propulsion away from Nemanja Matic, who was snapping at his heels, was a sight to behold.

Sterling veered to the left of England team-mate Gary Cahill and then delivered a pinpoint left-foot shot from just inside the penalty area that beat Thibaut Courtois and nestled in the corner of the net. The goal was reminiscent in some respects of Michael Owen’s strike for England against Argentina all those years ago, though Sterling need not be weighed down by comparisons. He deals in his own heroics and his mid-winter break in Jamaica appears to have agreed with him.

Chelsea departed probably content that Liverpool’s best chance has been and gone. In 15 matches on home soil this season only Schalke have left Stamford Bridge with anything to show for their efforts and Mourinho will believe that shimmering statistic is not about to be ruined.

This was a curious display from the Premier League leaders, who rolled with the punches in the first half to land the telling blow themselves but were then careless in possession to run aground in a creative sense.

To behold Diego Costa running himself to a standstill offers an insight into why Chelsea so routinely scale the heights. Hard work is embellished by touches of class that serve to place doubt into the minds of opponents. So it was for the breakthrough.

When Cesc Fabregas wriggled beyond Emre Can to the byline before cutting a pass back to Hazard, the threat of what might unfold panicked the Liverpool player into making a clumsy challenge.

It is true Hazard did not need much contact to go sprawling, but there was enough. There were to be none of the penalty shenanigans that Goodison Park had witnessed the previous night. Hazard picked himself and proceeded to send Simon Mignolet the wrong way with ease in the 18th minute.

That it did not provide a platform for his team to go on and exert a stranglehold on the tie will irk Mourinho.

The worry for Rodgers is that his players performed with their foot to the floor and yet could not secure a lead.

Courtois saved from Philippe Coutinho and substitute Adam Lallana, who had replaced Steven Gerrard in what appeared a pre-planned change to protect the captain on his return from a hamstring injury.

Typically, it was Gerrard, playing at Anfield for the first time since announcing his decision to join MLS side LA Galaxy in the summer, who served notice he will not leave with a whimper. He had forced a save from the Chelsea goalkeeper with a rasping drive from distance in the first half and was left with his head in his hands after the break as the woodwork denied him a goal.

Soon after Sterling’s sparkling intervention, and with Liverpool in the ascendancy, Coutinho’s cut-back found Gerrard but his strike clipped the outside of the post. Still if the coming months present him with the chance to settle some scores, then Chelsea will be wary that at some point they will pay.


LIVERPOOL (3-4-2-1): Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Sakho; Markovic, Henderson, Lucas, Moreno; Gerrard (Lallana 70), Coutinho; Sterling. Booked: Gerrard, Lucas. Goal: Sterling 59. NEXT UP: Bolton (h), Sat FAC.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Filipe Luis; Mikel, Matic; Willian (Azpilicueta 87), Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa. Booked: Filipe Luis, Mikel. Goal: Hazard 18pen. NEXT UP: Bradford (h), Sat FAC.

Referee: M Atkinson (West Yorkshire).


===============


Star:


Liverpool 1 - Chelsea 1: Sterling special sets up classic League Cup second leg

RAHEEM STERLING showed last night why a winter break might just be a good idea.

By Chris McKenna

The Liverpool forward fired in a second-half equaliser against Chelsea to leave this Capital One Cup semi-final tie finely balanced heading to Stamford Bridge next week.

Sterling returned from a brief break in Jamaica recently and on his second outing back in freezing temperatures at Anfield he cancelled out Eden Hazard’s penalty opener.

So many Premier League managers have called for time off in the winter to refresh weary legs.

It will never happen with this country’s love of festive football but Sterling certainly looked the better for his time in the sun.

The England star looked fresh on his pins as he raced through the previously solid Chelsea defence to finally break their resolve.

It also left Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho’s plan to park the bus hit the skids, although the Portuguese would probably have taken a low-scoring draw before kick-off.

The Blues were clear how they were going to set up from the off as the hosts were allowed to ping balls around.

Skipper Steven Gerrard looked particularly up for it as he harried around and showing Mourinho again why he regrets missing out on signing him back in 2005.

These are the games that Gerrard will miss most when he jets off to LA in the summer at the end of his Liverpool deal.

The big-match feel, the Anfield roar and trying to outdo the likes of Mourinho and his mind games.

The Chelsea boss asked his club’s fans not to goad Gerrard over that slip at this ground last season when he famously fell over to put the Blues on their way and ruin his side’s title hopes.

But the travelling troops were singing it loudly before kick-off and after until the Kop skipper almost shoved it back down their throat.

A rasping effort from 30 yards had Chelsea stopper Thibaut Courtois at full stretch as he pushed over with the momentum seemingly growing behind Liverpool.

But all the Reds’ work early on counted for nothing when Emre Can’s backside took Hazard out in the area.

After being beaten at the end line by Cesc Fabregas, the makeshift defender ran straight into Hazard and referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot.

Hazard then sent Simon Mignolet the wrong way to strike first blood in this modern-day rivalry after 18 minutes.

Kop boss Brendan Rodgers warned his side before the game that there was no need to panic if they went behind as this was a two-legged affair.

And they were not losing their composure as they continued to build before Coutinho’s shot was deflected over by John Obi Mikel.

Chelsea’s one effort in the whole of the first 45 was a signal of their intent last night and now they had the goal advantage Mourinho was not going to change it up.

That meant Liverpool were afforded plenty of possession, but had to start finding the gaps to expose before time ran out.

And it took a stunning run from Sterling to find that hole as he collected from Jordan Henderson before leaving Nemanja Matic for dead and then coasting to the side of Gary Cahill.

The England star’s left-foot strike found the bottom corner in the 59th minute to leave Rodgers pointing to the sky and his holiday reward paying off.

The equaliser sparked life into the game and Gerrard soon cracked the post as Chelsea’s defence started to creak.

But Courtois was on hand to keep it level as he saved from Henderson, Coutinho and Adam Lallana late on to leave this all square for the second leg.


LIVERPOOL (3-4-3): Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Sakho; Henderson, Gerrard (Lallana 70), Lucas, Moreno; Markovic, Sterling, Coutinho. Subs: Ward, Enrique, Lambert, Manquillo, Borini, Rossiter.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Luis; Matic, Mikel; Willian (Azpilicueta 89), Fabregas, Hazard; Costa. Subs: Cech, Zouma, Ramires, Oscar, Drogba, Remy.

REFEREE: Martin Atkinson