Grants gives Chelsea a 3-2 win over Liverpool

BEIJING, May 1 -- Avram Grant has done what Jose Mourinho never managed to accomplish with Chelsea -- put the London club into the Champions League final.

The Blues held on to beat Liverpool 3-2 in extra time yesterday in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals, and their 4-3 aggregate win sent them to the final on May 21 in Moscow, where they will face Manchester United.

Frank Lampard, playing for the first time since his mother died of pneumonia on Thursday, scored from the penalty spot in the 98th minute and Didier Drogba added his second goal of the night in the 105th.

"What a character Lamps is to come in on Sunday and train and try and block out what has been a terrible week for him and his family and everyone close to Frank," Chelsea captain John Terry said. "I'm sure Frank will dedicate the goal to his mum tonight."

Lampard beat Pepe Reina with his penalty in the 98th minute after Sami Hyypia had brought down Michael Ballack in the area.

The Chelsea midfielder ran to a corner flag after he scored and kneeled. He then took off his black armband, looked to the sky and kissed it.

After embraces from his teammates, Lampard ran back to the center circle and pointed to his father in the crowd. Frank Lampard Sr. was also a professional soccer player.

Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel scored for five-time champion Liverpool, which lost to AC Milan in the Champions League final last year.

"I thought we were very close. We played well in the second half, but the third goal killed it," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. "We had control of the game. We had two chances in extra time and we were in control and we were preventing them from creating."

It's the first all-English final in the Champions League, and it will feature the two clubs fighting for the Premier League title. Both teams have 81 points, but United leads on goal difference with two games remaining.

Chelsea, which hasn't lost in 12 straight home games in the Champions League, was playing in the tournament's semifinals for the fourth time in five years. The Blues had twice lost to Liverpool and once to Monaco.

Grant said he was proud to "create history in the first year as a manager, with all the difficulties we had this year."

"We stayed together and did things in the positive way with a lot of thinking," Grant added. "Not just (that) we came to the final, but the way we did it.

Although Mourinho never got past the semifinals with Chelsea, the Portuguese coach led FC Porto to the Champions League title in 2004.

Chelsea is also undefeated in 82 games at Stamford Bridge.

No London club has ever won the Champions League. United, which beat FC Barcelona 1-0 Tuesday to advance to the final, has won the European Cup twice, in 1968 and 1999.

Chelsea's only European success was in the Cup Winners' Cup, which it won in 1971 and 1998.

Drogba scored the game's first goal in the 33rd by tapping in a rebound after Salomon Kalou's initial shot was pushed away by Reina.

Before the match, Benitez accused Drogba of being a diver.

"Benitez is a fantastic coach and I was a bit disappointed but I think he felt his team was not strong enough and Chelsea were going to beat them," Drogba said. "I am just happy for my team and I don't want to think about others.

"It's not good for my image. I'm giving my best to put my team at the top and I think it's not fair but it's finished."

Torres equalized in the 64th, knocking in a pass from Yossi Benayoun and sparking loud cheers from the traveling Liverpool fans.

After Lampard's penalty, Drogba added another by scoring off a cross from Nicolas Anelka, who had replaced midfielder Joe Cole at the beginning of extra time.

Babel scored the final goal in the 117th with a shot that slipped through the fingers of Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.

In last week's first leg, Chelsea earned a 1-1 draw at Anfield off an injury-time own-goal from Liverpool defender John Arne Riise, who started Wednesday.

(Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)