Liverpool advance after pulsating tie

Liverpool 4 Arsenal 2  (Liverpool win 5-3 on agg):LIVERPOOL ADVANCE yet again to a Champions League semi-final with Chelsea, but the future will have to wait because this match leaves everyone who witnessed it in the grip of their memories.

Rafael Benitez's team came from behind to lead through Fernando Torres, but were then on the verge of elimination on away goals until Steven Gerrard settled the tie from the penalty spot after 86 minutes. A breakway goal from the substitute Ryan Babel in stoppage time barely mattered.

The sheer opulence of Arsenal's equaliser may have broken their own concentration. Emmanuel Adebayor had already wasted one glorious chance for a leveller but Theo Walcott set him up for an extraordinary goal in the 83rd minute. The teenage substitute covered 80 yards at pace to escape Xabi Alonso, Fabio Aurelio, Javier Mascherano and Sami Hyypia before picking out the Togolese forward.

Liverpool, all the same, are too tough to be broken by virtuosity. Within two minutes, Kolo Toure was fouling Babel from behind. Gerrard was firm and efficient with the penalty.

Liverpool needed merely a goalless draw to progress, but it was clear from the start that any such ambition was a pipedream. Arsène Wenger had called for a rekindling of the form that saw Arsenal eliminate Milan at San Siro in the previous round. He would have been overjoyed to see his instructions ignored only insofar as his team was far more aggressive than it had been in Italy.

With two minutes gone, for instance, there was already a foul for the visitors near the penalty area following Mascherano's foul on Adebayor. By their own ethereal standards, Arsenal had beefed up for this match by including Abou Diaby, nominally on the left of midfield. The Frenchman was on the other flank when, after 13 minutes, he scored an opener that seemed overdue.

Liverpool never raised the siege once Adebayor had spread panic with a burst into the left of the penalty area. Efforts to clear ended with Alexander Hleb in possession and he slid a pass through to Diaby. The angle was still tight but Diaby shot had power and it reached the net at the near post after bouncing off the knee of Jose Reina at the near post.

Benitez had more or less predicted that Arsenal would score, but his response to that assumption did not seem well-judged in the first half-hour. With Torres and Peter Crouch as partners rather than alternatives in attack, there was a free-spirited look to a Liverpool line-up that had Dirk Kuyt and Gerrard on the flanks. The arch-tactician appeared for a while to have miscalculated.

Arsenal then were simply superior. So well did the visitors move the ball that Liverpool's two defensive midfielders found it impossible to staunch the flow. Overwhelmed in terms of football artistry, Liverpool, nonetheless, still dragged themselves level from a set-piece that exposed vague marking.

With half-an-hour gone, a Aurelio cross deflected from Toure and was turned behind by Manuel Almunia. Steven Gerrard's corner was deep and Sami Hyypia foxed his nominal marker Philippe Senderos by moving first behind him and then in front of the Swiss to score with a powerful header from about 10 yards that went over Cesc Fabregas and flew home after bouncing off the inside of the post.

At the Emirates, Arsenal themselves had scored, through Adebayor, from a corner. These games are supposed to be the apex of European football, the subject of exhaustive preparation, yet blunders still cannot be refused entry.

Relief at being on level terms perked up Liverpool. There was a benefit, too, in the injury that ended Mathieu Flaimini's night, with the less mobile, if more experienced, Gilberto de Silva taking over from him in the 42nd minute.

With Anfield unable to contain both of Liverpool's duelling owners, with Tom Hicks preferring to attend the first home game of his Texas Rangers franchise, it was George Gillett's luck to be witnessing such a marvellous encounter.

Gripping as the occasionally frantic action was, the game also intrigued. While Liverpool opened the second half boldly, a second away goal would put Benitez's team on the verge of elimination. Arsenal were in less of a hurry to go forward, but they had no need to be hasty.

With an hour gone, Liverpool players infuriated the home support by resting as they rolled passes to one another in defence. It was wise of them to do so and that small piece of recuperation was soon followed by enterprise.

It called for merciless precision to give one team an advantage. Torres excels at that and when Crouch nodded on a long ball from Reina after 72 minutes, the striker gathered, turned inside Senderos and smashed a shot across Almunia and high into the top corner. That was the outstanding moment of a tie so closely contested it was no surprise that it was not the last word on this great struggle.

LIVERPOOL:Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Hyypia, Aurelio, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Kuyt (Arbeloa 90), Torres (Riise 87), Crouch (Babel 78). Subs not used: Itandje, Voronin, Benayoun, Lucas.

ARSENAL:Almunia, Toure, Gallas, Senderos, Clichy, Eboue (Walcott 72), Flamini (Silva 42), Fabregas, Diaby (Van Persie 72), Hleb, Adebayor. Subs not used: Lehmann, Song Billong, Bendtner, Justin Hoyte. Booked: Senderos, Toure.

Referee:Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden).

Guardian Service