Cole gives Chelsea upper hand
Cole's goal gives Chelsea the advantage heading into the second leg
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Wednesday, 25, Apr 2007 11:10
Chelsea beat Liverpool 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at Stamford Bridge thanks to a first-half goal from Joe Cole.
The visitors had their fair share of chances in the match, although the Blues were worth the slim lead they will take into the second leg at Anfield next week.
The Blues were in the ascendancy for most of the game and had a great chance to score in the opening minutes.
Didier Drogba cushioned the ball into the path of Frank Lampard but Jose Reina saved well from the midfielder as he bore down on goal.
However the west London side were not to be denied for long as Cole broke the deadlock after 28 minutes after a sweeping counter-attack.
Ricardo Carvalho intercepted the ball and released Drogba. The Ivorian did well to hold up the ball while waiting for support from midfield. Cole arrived in the box and the striker fed him in to poke the ball past Reina.
It was all Chelsea in the opening half so Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez chose to change tactics in the second half by introducing Peter Crouch for the ineffectual Craig Bellamy.
The giant striker helped carve out the Reds' best chance of the game - providing Steven Gerrard with a knock-down that the midfielder latched onto and drove towards the top corner.
But Petr Cech was equal to the shot as he dived to his left to protect the home side's advantage.
The Blues nearly added to the scoreline towards the end of the game and Liverpool had Reina to thank once again.
Drogba wasted a chance as he struck a shot towards the far post but it was too weak to seriously trouble the Liverpool goalkeeper.
However, the Spaniard had to be at his best again to deny Lampard in the dying stages after the England man had let fly a fearsome drive from the edge of the box.
Reina's heroics mean that Liverpool are still in the tie while Chelsea will be pleased to have kept a clean sheet in their home leg.