Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Red v. Blue
Liverpool and Chelsea put on a rather dismal display at Stamford Bridge tonight, ending 90 minutes of Champions League scrappiness level at 0-0.
Chelsea looked the more dangerous of the squads with several scoring opportunities. Still, none of their attacking options could capitalize: Drogba shanked at least 3 opportunities; Lampard boomed their best chance over the bar; Joe Cole dribbled a couple of weak efforts straight at Dudek. John Terry failed to exhibit any of his trademark magic on set pieces, as well.
Liverpool, despite having fewer chances to net a winner, at least got them on frame. Petr Cech had to make two quality saves, a block against Riise early on that looked easier than it was due to his excellent positioning and an extraordinary diving effort to knock away a speculative header from Baros.
Perhaps the most important event of the evening, however, was Xabi Alonso's yellow card, which will rule him out for the return leg at Anfield. Alonso was solid tonight, stifling attacks and distributing quality balls from deep, much like his performance two weeks ago in Turin. His absence will hurt Liverpool's ability to contain Lampard, although perhaps it will encourage Gerrard to ramp up his level of play. The Liverpool captain was, after all, nearly invisible tonight and it seems that his best games come when he's not paired up with the former Real Sociedad star.
Even though I would have enjoyed a more exciting game, it's hard to be too critical of either squad considering what's at stake. Chelsea came out of the box looking to play conservatively (which was somewhat of a surprise, and a sharp departure from previous CL home matches against Bayern and Barca), while Liverpool seemed more than content to go back home with a clean sheet. Hopefully tonight's less-than-stellar exhibition will set up a second leg barnstormer. In contrast to PSV-Milan, both English sides go into next week's tie on an even keel.
Chelsea looked the more dangerous of the squads with several scoring opportunities. Still, none of their attacking options could capitalize: Drogba shanked at least 3 opportunities; Lampard boomed their best chance over the bar; Joe Cole dribbled a couple of weak efforts straight at Dudek. John Terry failed to exhibit any of his trademark magic on set pieces, as well.
Liverpool, despite having fewer chances to net a winner, at least got them on frame. Petr Cech had to make two quality saves, a block against Riise early on that looked easier than it was due to his excellent positioning and an extraordinary diving effort to knock away a speculative header from Baros.
Perhaps the most important event of the evening, however, was Xabi Alonso's yellow card, which will rule him out for the return leg at Anfield. Alonso was solid tonight, stifling attacks and distributing quality balls from deep, much like his performance two weeks ago in Turin. His absence will hurt Liverpool's ability to contain Lampard, although perhaps it will encourage Gerrard to ramp up his level of play. The Liverpool captain was, after all, nearly invisible tonight and it seems that his best games come when he's not paired up with the former Real Sociedad star.
Even though I would have enjoyed a more exciting game, it's hard to be too critical of either squad considering what's at stake. Chelsea came out of the box looking to play conservatively (which was somewhat of a surprise, and a sharp departure from previous CL home matches against Bayern and Barca), while Liverpool seemed more than content to go back home with a clean sheet. Hopefully tonight's less-than-stellar exhibition will set up a second leg barnstormer. In contrast to PSV-Milan, both English sides go into next week's tie on an even keel.
