Steven Gerrard – Penyamaran Sempurna

Para pemain Liverpool punya cara unik untuk bersenang-senang. Pekan lalu, anak buah pelatih Rafael Benitez ini mengadakan pesta kostum di Sport Bar England di Liverpool.

Hampir seluruh pemain datang dengan dandanan seru. Daniel Agger (23) misalnya, bergaya ala penyanyi punk. Namun, yang kostumnya pantas mendapat acungan jempol adalah Steven Gerrard (27).

Gelandang utama Liverpool ini menyamar sebagai lelaki tua lengkap dengan skuter khusus untuk penderita cacat. Penyamaran ini nyaris sempurna sehingga Gerrard sulit dikenali.

“Saya melihat orang tua mengendarai skuter listrik di depan bar. Saya kira dia tersasar dan saya menawarkan bantuan kepadanya,” ujar seorang pejalan kaki kepada Dailymail.

“Tiba-tiba dari dalam bar ada yang berteriak bahwa pria itu adalah Steven Gerrard. Saya sungguh terkejut dan merasa tertipu,” lanjutnya.

Liverpool sink Gunners to set up Chelsea semi

Steven Gerrard's 85th minute penalty and an injury time strike by Ryan Babel sent Liverpool into their third Champions League semi-final in four seasons after an exhilarating 4-2 win over Arsenal at Anfield this morning. The Reds will meet Chelsea also for the third time in four seasons after the London giants prevailed 2-0 over Turkish outfit Fenerbahce in this morning's other quarter-final.

Michael Ballack's first half header was followed by a late Frank Lampard strike at Stamford Bridge to send Avram Grant's side through 3-2 on aggregate. Chelsea had to survive a nervous finale which saw substitute goalkeeper Hilario make two superb saves to confirm a date with their Premier League counterparts who have got the better of the Blues on both previous encounters in Europe.

At Anfield, Arsene Wenger's men were six minutes away from booking their place in the last four after Theo Walcott ran the entire length of the pitch to set up Emmanuel Adebayor to level the scores at 2-2 on the night and 3-3 on aggregate. That would have been enough to put London club through on the away goals rule.

But within a minute, Kolo Toure was adjudged to have fouled Liverpool substitute Babel in the box and Gerrard confidently converted the penalty to ensure a happy conclusion to another memorable night at Anfield. Babel said that the penalty was a genuine one, though, Arsenal could justifiably claim that they should have had one the week before when Alexander Hleb was brought down by Dirk Kuyt.

"I was trying to make something of the move and they (Arsenal) took it away from me, so I deserved the penalty," said Babel. Benitez had no doubts about the merits of the win. "The important thing was that the team believed and it was a fantastic team performance," said the Spaniard. "Regarding the penalty, it doesn't really matter as we scored four goals this time which was more than enough to win the match."

Arsenal, who must now contemplate a third consecutive season without silverware, were left to rue what might have been after comfortably dominating their opponents for the first 30 minutes before finding a second wind that took them agonisingly close to going through.

Exhilarating contestIn the build-up to the match, Benitez had been at pains to emphasise the advantage Anfield's unique atmosphere accords his side on nights such as these. But it was his players rather than the visitors who, initially, appeared overawed by the occasion, and Arsenal might easily have taken an even earlier lead had Emmanuel Adebayor not carelessly strayed offside but took the lead not long later.

After a poor clearance by Xabi Alonso and a string of passes between Alexandre Hleb and Cesc Fabregas picked out Abou Diaby's run into the box, the midfielder unleashing a low shot that struck Reina's knee before finding the net at the near post. Nearly half an hour had elapsed before Hyypia, allowed a yard of space by Philippe Senderos, powered an unstoppable header in off the goalkeeper's left-hand post.

Suddenly it was Liverpool's pressing and passing that looked sharper while Arsenal's rhythm was further disrupted by the loss of Flamini's combative edge to an ankle injury. After being 1-1 at the break, Fernando Torres, a largely anonymous presence up until then, produced a brilliant turn and strike in the 69th minute to give Liverpool a valuable lead.

A sublime first touch enabled him to bring the ball under control while simultaneously spinning into a position from where he was able to fire an unstoppable shot across Almunia and into the top corner of the net. The Gunners finally did get their equaliser thanks to Walcott's exhilarating run. But their satisfaction was extremely short-lived and Babel's breakaway strike in injury time sealed Liverpool's win.

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AFP

Kuyt Gives Arsenal No Quarter

Liverpool have the Champions League semi-finals in their sights for the third time in four seasons after securing a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the first leg of their quarter-final last night. Chelsea, though, could be struggling to join them after losing 2-1 to Fenerbahçe in Istanbul despite taking an early lead.

The scoring in the all-Barclays Premier League encounter at the Emirates Stadium was compressed into three minutes midway through the first half. Liverpool unaccountably left Emmanuel Adebayor unmarked to head in his 24th goal of the season, but Steven Gerrard then launched a run down the left and crossed for Dirk Kuyt, who was credited with the equaliser although replays suggested that Gaël Clichy may have got the final touch.

Arsenal pressed strongly after the break and were frustrated when a goalbound shot from Cesc Fàbregas was blocked inches from the line by Nicklas Bendtner, his team-mate. They were also furious that Pieter Vink, the Dutch referee, dismissed their appeals for a 60th-minute penalty when Kuyt appeared to pull back Alexander Hleb. “There was a blatant penalty not given under the eyes of the referee,” Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said. “If he doesn’t have a good view, OK, but he was five yards from Kuyt and didn’t give it.” Kuyt, who grew up in a village in the Rijnland region of the Netherlands close to where Vink comes from, thought that the official made the right call. “It was a split-second decision,” he said. “I didn’t pull his shirt. It was never a penalty, but it was close.”

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, said that the penalty “wasn’t clear” and agreed with Wenger that his team were not necessarily favourites to progress. “When you play Arsenal you know that they can score in any stadium,” he said. “They play good counter-attacking football, although playing in our stadium is a massive advantage for us.” It was the first of three matches between the clubs in seven days — they meet again in a Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday before the Champions League second leg at Anfield on Tuesday — and although Liverpool have still not won an away match against another English team in Europe in seven attempts, they were happier with the result. “An away goal is always important in the Champions League,” Benítez said. “And if you have to play extra time, you are at home.”

The Arsenal supporters took what consolation they could from Chelsea’s defeat. Avram Grant’s team had taken the lead after 13 minutes when Florent Malouda crossed from the left and Deivid deflected the ball past Volkan Demirel, his own goalkeeper. However, the Turkish team are a formidable force at home, where they have won all six of their Champions League matches this season. Colin Kazim-Richards, the former Sheffield United forward, equalised in the 64th minute when Mehmet Aurélio’s pass beat the offside trap and Deivid atoned for his aberration with a brilliant 30-yard shot that flew past Carlo Cudicini into the top corner nine minutes from time.

“We dominated the game, we created chances, we played very good football, but we lost. This is football,” Grant said. “Normally to lose 2-1 away from home is a good result, but because we played better football we are disappointed. If we play [in the second leg] like we played most of the game tonight and we concentrate, then we can win the game.”

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From : The Times