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REDS STUN CHELSEA TO REACH FINAL
by Betting Zone
Goals from John Arne Riise and Luis Garcia booked Liverpool's place in the FA Cup final as Chelsea were toppled 2-1 at Old Trafford.
The opening goal came on 21 minutes when John Arne Riise threaded a controversially-awarded free-kick through Chelsea's crumbling wall and into the net from 20 yards.
John Terry thought he had equalised on 49 minutes when he powered home sub Arjen Robben's free-kick - but the Blues skipper climbed on Riise in his leap and referee Graham Poll ruled the goal out.
Luis Garcia then scored the goal of the game on 53 minutes when he thumped a stunning 20-yard left-footer past Carlo Cudicini.
Jose Mourinho sent on Joe Cole and Damien Duff before Didier Drogba pulled one back when he pounced on Riise's poor clearance to outjump Jose Reina and head into an empty net on 70 minutes.
But despite late pressure, Liverpool held on to book their place - against either West Ham or Middlesbrough - at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on May 13.
After the match Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was understandably disappointed to have failed to win a double again and blamed slack finishing - and refereeing decisions by Poll - for the defeat.
"In a semi-final you cannot miss chances like we did at crucial moments," he told BBC Interactive.
"You cannot miss chances like the one for 1-0 and lose chances in the last minute for 2-2. That's the negative comment I have about my team."
He continued: "In the semi-final you cannot have every crucial decision against you. The free-kick for the first goal was a decision against us and the goal disallowed for (John) Terry is a decision against us.
Rafael Benitez admitted it was a fraught end to the match and also that he and Mourinho had not shaken hands at the final whistle.
"We were watching the watch all the time!" he told BBC Interactive.
"I'm really happy, delighted for the players, the club, the supporters. It was an amazing game for us.
"We worked really hard, created our chances and with a little bit more luck would have created a counter-attack and got another goal."
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