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Gunners shot down by battling Blues
Wayne Bridge proved to be Chelsea's Champions League hero as his late goal sealed a 2-1 second-leg win over Arsenal in the quarter-finals at Highbury.
But the Gunners were favourites as Chelsea had failed to beat their arch rivals in 17 previous attempts. Things were going to plan for Arsene Wenger's troops, still licking their wounds after the weekend FA Cup defeat by Manchester United. They took the lead on the stroke of half-time through Jose Antonio Reyes' cool finish from Thierry Henry's knockdown. But Chelsea came out fighting after the break and gained a deserved equaliser when Frank Lampard coolly slotted home from close range after Jens Lehmann fumbled Claude Makelele's 25-yard drive on 51 minutes. The goal gave the visitors the momentum in the showdown and they grabbed a deserved but unexpected 3-2 aggregate victory three minutes from time when Bridge played a sublime one-two with Eidur Gudjohnsen and raced into the box before calmly slotting a shot past Lehmann.
Afterwards Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri could not contain his delight at finally beating old foes Arsenal. "Fantastic. The players believed in this victory. It was important to stay calm. I said to them 'Don't worry, we can score', and the second half was fantastic. A great performance," he told ITV1. "It was good because we wanted to win. We wanted to finish this winless run of matches against Arsenal." Speculation has been rife all year that Ranieri will be out of a job at the end of the season as owner Roman Abramovich wants to bring in his own man and even though he has guided the side to the Champions League semi-final the manager refused to look beyond May. "I don't know [about my future]. I am focusing on this season, that is important for me, the club and everyone. That is my way," he said. |
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