Rafa Benitez’s side looked to be heading for another frustrating draw as Chelsea held out after Frank Lampard’s second half dismissal for a lunge on Xabi Alonso.

But Torres struck in the 89th minute when he latched on to a cross by Fabio Aurelio before cementing the points deep into stoppage time after being teed-up by Yossi Benayoun.

They were the Spanish international’s first Premier League goals since October and put Liverpool two points behind leaders Manchester United, who have a game in hand.

More importantly, the result almost certainly ended Chelsea’s title challenge for another season as Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side self-destructed.

The Blues are five points behind United and have yet to beat any of their ‘big four’ rivals this season.

While Scolari opted to keep faith with the 11 who started the 2-0 win over Middlesbrough in midweek, Benitez made three changes from the side which stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Wigan.

Robbie Keane’s omission only fuelled speculation that the out-of-favour Republic of Ireland striker could be on his way out of Anfield before Monday’s transfer deadline with his former club Tottenham touted as a possible destination for the frustrated 28-year-old.

With Manchester United having pulled five points clear at the summit the previous day, nothing but a win would do for either side.

Yet with the stakes so high, chances were few and far between in a cagey first half which saw Liverpool carve out the better chances without causing any damage.

Alonso marked his return to the side by bringing a scrappy opening to life with a missile of a shot from 25-yard which Petr Cech was forced to turn over his bar in the 12th minute.

Chelsea struggled to create a noteworthy chance and they were fortunate to escape in the 18th minute when Cech spilled Javier Mascherano’s long range effort, but there was no red shirt following up.

Mascherano, who has been involved in a niggling battle with Michael Ballack, became the first player to enter referee Mike Riley’s notebook and he was quickly followed by Chelsea defender Ashley Cole during a bruising first half.

The temperature at sub-zero Anfield increased dramatically on the half hour mark as Torres, without a Premier League goal for four months, had a goal-bound effort blocked by Brazilian defender Alex inside the Chelsea area following a super cross by Jamie Carragher.

A tame header by John Terry was all Chelsea could offer in reply yet Liverpool lacked a killer instinct.

The deadlock was almost broken five minutes before half time when Cech, who was having a poor game, spilled another effort, this time from Albert Riera, and the ball cannoned off Cole just past the corner.

If Chelsea had trouble unlocking the Liverpool defence in the first half then their task was made twice as hard when they were reduced to ten men in the 60th minute following Lampard’s crunching challenge on Alonso.

The England midfielder could have few complaints after leaving Alonso in a heap in the centre circle and his team a man short with half an hour to play.

Liverpool spent the final half an hour bombarding the Chelsea defence but to no avail.

The busy Alonso went close close with a stinging effort which deflected off Alex, who was outstanding in the visitors defence, and crashed against the bar.

And 11 minutes from time, Cech made amends for his first half spills with a belting save to thwart substitute Benayoun before Torres had the final say.

The Spanish striker was in the right place at the right time to nod Aurelio’s cross past Cech and give Liverpool the three points they craved.

Then deep into stoppage time, the Chelsea defence capitulated, Torres cementing the points after being teed-up by Benayoun following a mistake by Cole.

Pic + Source: supersport.co.za 

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has written off Arsenal’s title hopes, believing it will become a three-way battle between the defending champions, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Arsenal are eight points behind leaders Liverpool, seven adrift of Chelsea and two off United.

“I presume us, Chelsea and Liverpool will start pulling away a bit after Christmas,” Ferdinand told BBC radio from Tokyo where United are competing in the Club World Cup of continental champions.

“It’s not beyond them (Arsenal), it’s just my personal opinion that it will be between us three this season.”

Arsene Wenger’s side are languishing in fifth place after surrendering the lead in a tame 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.

At the same time, Aston Villa’s 4-2 win over Bolton Wanderers took Martin O’Neill’s side into fourth.

United, who drew 0-0 with Spurs last Saturday, will miss next weekend’s round of Premier League matches, but Ferdinand said everyone would be keeping a close eye on what was happening.

“We’ll be looking and seeing what’s going on,” he said.

“Last weekend we were disappointed, especially after our game, but when you look back on it you can take it that we came out of it better than anyone else because we drew away and the other teams drew at home.

“We can take some comfort from that but it would have been nice to have got the three points. We would have been sitting a lot prettier than we are now.

“It looks like teams will drop points. Hull going to Anfield and getting a draw is a massive result for them. Who would have said that before the season kicked off?

“West Ham getting a draw at Chelsea was a surprise as well. There have been quite a few unusual results this season but I am sure it is good for the fans.”

Source: supersport.co.za

Pic: centreholdsit

Spain won only their second major tournament on June 29, beating Germany in the Euro 2008 final in Vienna 1 – 0, Fernando Torres’ solitary strike in the first half proving enough to separate the two teams.

Long considered international football’s biggest underachievers, Spain finally broke their duck 24 years after last appearing in a final, the 13th edition of the European championship proving lucky for them.

Spain went into the tournament with the most talented squad and played the most consistent football in Austria and Switzerland, deservedly winning the trophy. Even the absence of David Villa, who ended Euro 2008 as its top scorer with four goals but missed the final with a thigh injury, did not seem to put off a Spanish side that has reached new heights of team spirit and cohesiveness.

Throughout the tournament, Spain stuck to a patient style of knocking the ball about, wearing down teams with their patient passing, and it was no different in the final.

Even though Germany started more dangerously than their opponents, Spain quickly overcame their nerves and created the first dangerous chance, Iniesta’s cross deflecting off Christoph Metzelder to prompt a reflex save from Jens Lehmann in the 14th minute.

Eight minutes later, Fernando Torres rattled the bottom of the post with his header, but his moment of glory would come in the 33rd minute. The Liverpool striker chased Xavi Hernandez’ long ball, beating Philipp Lahm to chip it over Lehmann and into the side of net next to the goal post.

Spain continued to dominate throughout the rest of the half, but could not take take advantage even when in numerical superiority, when Michael Ballack had to leave the field of play to have his eyebrow stitched.

Germany once again started the half stronger than their opponents, but Spain wrestled control back and Torres came close to scoring a second goal in the 55th minute, identical to his first, only to see Lehmann smother the ball at the last moment.

Joachim Loew, the German manager, tried to change the tactics of his team, taking off defensive midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger and sending on striker Kevin Kuranyi, which almost paid an instant dividend, but Ballack’s piledriver in the 59th minute was just wide of Iker Casillas goal.

Germany enjoyed a brief period of superior posession and had another half-chance through Bastian Schweinsteiger, but almost went two down, only for Lehmann’s reflex save to deny Sergio Ramos’ header.

Lehmann was undoubtedly the busier of the two goalkeepers, Germany barely testing Casillas until the end of the match, while at the other end Marcos Senna, outstanding throughout the tournament, came close to putting the result beyond any doubt in the 81st minute, missing substitute Dani Guiza’s knockdown by centimetres.

A tense last ten minutes saw a German penalty appeal turned down, correctly, by Italian referee Roberto Rosetti, while Spain winded the clock down in their opponents’ half to hang on for the win and the trophy.

Spain reach their first Euro 2008 final in 24 years by beating the fairytale team of Russia 3 – 0 last night. Spain have also been unbeaten for 21 games on the trot now. Xavi Hernandez, Daniel Guiza and David Silva found the back of the net for the Spaniards in the second half, the score having been 0 – 0 at halftime.

Germany and Spain will now meet in the final on Sunday. It will be Spain’s 3rd final and they will be looking for their second win (last title was won in 1964 when they beat the USSR) and Germany for their 4th.

Score:

SPAIN 3 – 0 RUSSIA

The German defender Philipp Lahm scored a goal in the last minute against Turkey to take Germany to the final in the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament. It is the sixth time the Germans qualify for a Euro final and are aiming for their fourth title.

Turkey dominated the first 20 minutes and it looked as if an upset was brewing when they scored in the 22nd minute when Ugur Boral kicked a crossbar deflected strike of Kazim Kazim through Jens Lehman’s legs. Germany struck back within 4 minutes though to make it 1 – 1 courtesy of Bastian Schweinsteiger. In the 79th minute the Turkish fairytale looked to be over when Miroslav Klose gave the Germans the lead for the first time in the match. Turkey made the Germans sweat once again when their hero from the Switserland and Croatia game Semih Senturk scored in the 86th minute. Philipp Lahm then took it away from Turkey when he scored Germany’s winning goal in the las minute.

Score:

GERMANY 3 – 2 TURKEY

After playing 120 minutes without a goal Spain and Italy were sent to penalty kicks to determine the final spot in the Euro 2008 semifinals and in the end it was Spain punching their ticket to advance. Spain became the first country seeded number one to advance past their quarterfinals match.
Both sides struggled mightily on the finishing end through regulation and into extra time as Spain fired off 27 shots (10 on goal) and Italy managed 12 shots (6 on goal) with no scores. In the end the match was determined on penalty kicks with Spain edging Italy 4-2. Forced into penalty kicks Both sides were even at one after David Villa scored for Spain and Fabio Grosso equalized for Italy but after Santi Cazorla scored Daniele De Rossi’s shot was stopped and Spain had a 2-1 advantage.
Marcos Senna made it 3-1 for Spain before Mauro German Camoranesi brought Italy to within 3-2. Daniel Guiza then missed for Spain and Italy had a chance to even the score but Antonio Di Natale was stopped and then Cesc Fábregas put the match away for Spain with a goal.
Spain will now face Russia on Thursday at 2:45 pm ET for a chance to play for the 2008 Euro championship.

Score:

SPAIN 0 – 0 ITALY (Penalties: Spain 4 – 2 Italy)

Two unlikely results have shaken the line-up of UEFA Euro 2008 as the tournament reaches the semi-finals. Russia scored two goals in extra time to defeat a shocked Netherlands 1-3 on Saturday night (21 June) and Turkey managed to steal the game from a seemingly stronger Croatia on Friday (19 June).

Pavlyuchenko scored after 56 minutes to put Russia ahead of Holland; the way it remained until the dying seconds when Ruud van Nistelrooy ostensibly ended hopes of a giant-killing, scoring in the 86th minute.
Russia fought hard in extra time, and during the second half Torbinski evaded a ragged Holland defence to cheekily slot in a cross passing the face of goal. Russia put the boot in four minutes later, scoring another by way of Andrei Arshavin.

Turkey, fresh from their strong fightback in the group stages against the Czech Republic, held Croatia to a 0-0 scoreline well into extra time. Klasnic scored for the Croats mere minutes before the match was to go to penalties, and then Semih immediately levelled the scoreline seconds before a Croatia win. The Turks then proceeded to thrash them 3-1 on penalties.

Scores:

TURKEY 1 – 1 Croatia (Penalties: Turkey 3 – 1 Croatia)

RUSSIA 3 – 1 NETHERLANDS

Germany beat Portugal 3 – 2 last night in their Euro 2008 quarterfinal encounter. Bastian Schweinsteiger scored
Germany’s first goal in the 22nd minute followed by Miroslav Klose’s header in the back of the net from a Schweinsteiger free kick in the 27th minute. Portugal never gave up though and made the scoreline 2 – 1 in the 40th minute, compliments of Nino Gomes. Michael Ballack restored Germany’s two goal lead in the 61st minute, having scored goals in consecutive games now. Portugal made sure of a nail biting finish when they reduced the deficit to one goal in the 87th minute.

Germany will now play Croatia or Turkey on Wednesday.