25/04/2007  Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0
 
England midfielder Joe Cole compensated for months of injury misery with a matchwinning goal which may be enough to set up the final part in a trilogy of meetings with Manchester United.

Cole, sidelined for the majority of the season with knee and foot injuries, celebrated only his second start since his return to first team action with the decisive goal in a pulsating clash at Stamford Bridge.

It keeps Chelsea on course for a Champions League showdown with United on May 23 in Athens - a final that would be a fitting showdown to a season in which both teams have dominated the English and European stage.

Liverpool and AC Milan will be determined to prevent such a spectacle taking place - but the Merseysiders will have to show more effort and endeavour in the return leg at Anfield if they are to reach the final instead of Jose Mourinho's side.

Rafael Benitez's men were outplayed for long periods by a fatigued Chelsea side that simply refused to buckle under the strain of chasing glory on three fronts.

Although this semi-final never scaled the heights of Manchester United's thrilling victory over AC Milan last night, it was a game that showcased everything that is best about English football.

Mourinho's pre-match assertion that fatigue would play a part in the outcome of tie proved to be another well-crafted piece of psychological bunkum as Chelsea's players matched their opponents in every department.

The opening period belonged to the Blues and Cole's goal was just reward for a display which had Liverpool pegged back deep in their own half for long spells.

The English champions could have been in front as early as the eighth minute when Ashley Cole's cross was headed down by Didier Drogba for Lampard to fire in a shot which brought an excellent save from Jose Reina.

It was a warning that Liverpool failed to heed and when John Arne Riise's pass was intercepted by Drogba three minutes later, Chelsea looked certain to open their account.

But the Ivorian striker, with 31 goals to his credit this season, failed to find Joe Cole with his pass and another opportunity went begging.

Drogba's lack of bravery moments later allowed Liverpool to escape yet again when he paid far too much attention to the onrushing Reina than the flight of Joe Cole's cross and missed the ball completely.

When Frank Lampard's free-kick flew inches wide of Reina's right-hand upright in the 22nd minute, Mourinho could have been forgiven for thinking it was not going to be his side's night.

But all that changed seven minutes later with a goal of such simplicity that it was difficult to believe Chelsea had scored it against a side with one of the meanest defences in England.

It began with Ricardo Carvalho breaking-up a Liverpool attack and racing out of defence before slipping a sublime pass to Drogba. The striker, who gave Daniel Agger a torrid evening, turned him superbly before crossing for Cole to find the net from six yards.

Liverpool, not surprisingly, upped the pace of their own game in the second period and it almost paid dividends.

But in Petr Cech, Chelsea have a guardian of the sticks who, like Cole, epitomises the spirit of defiance in the Stamford Bridge camp.

Cech, out for three months with a fractured skull sustained in a Barclays Premiership match against Reading last October and who still has to wear a protective helmet, flung himself to his left to keep out a goalbound volley from Steven Gerrard.

Liverpool were now in the ascendancy but despite replacing Craig Bellamy with the lanky frame of England striker Peter Crouch, they failed to produce another telling moment.

Instead it was Reina who kept Liverpool in the tie with a fantastic save to deny Lampard when the England midfielder volleyed the ball towards the top corner 10 minutes from time.

Drogba almost scored a second in stoppage-time but headed wide of the target from six yards.

The tie remains delicately poised ahead of the return leg at Anfield and while Liverpool will feel they are capable of overcoming the deficit, Chelsea's remarkable spirit may prove to be unbreakable yet again.