Liverpool through to Wembley final

Sports - Football - Carling Cup - Liverpool 2:2 Man City

Liverpool's hard work payed off, another Steven Gerrard penalty and Craig Bellamy's fine curl shot seeing their side through to the Carling Cup final with a 2:2 draw on the night at Anfield, 3:2 on aggregate, to take the Reds to Wembley and end their 16-year absence.

Joe Hart's heroics for City were all to no avail in the end after the England goalkeeper had created some breathtaking saves against Gerrard, Bellamy, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Dirk Kuyt and Martin Skrtel.

In both halves, City made comebacks out of nowhere and gave them hope they could pull themselves out and through somehow.

First, after 30 minutes of Liverpool dominance, the home side creating chance after chance and seeing a Bellamy goal disallowed for offside, Nigel de Jong smacked one in from outside the box, a right-foot slip-curler, top-strike giving City the lead against the run of play.

But the lead did not last long, when on 39 Micah Richards handled the ball inside his box and conceded a penalty. The defender did not know much about it, it went so quick and before he or City knew it, Gerrard netted the penalty and took Liverpool into half time level on the night, leading 2:1 on aggregate.

The second half showed the same trend, Liverpool dominating and outclassing City until halfway through the half Edin Dzeko blasted one in off Aleksandar Kolarov's beauty of a cross from the left to give City another unpredictable lead.

Five minutes later, man of the match Bellamy killed off any City excitement or hope, curling Glen Johnson's cross into the left corner after a nice one-two cross exchange.

City tried to press late on but never looked too much of a threat to Pepe Reina, not seeing another comeback out of nowhere.

It was a fair result after a tense thriller, which saw Liverpool through to the final where they will meet Bellamy's former side Cardiff at Wembley on Sunday 23rd February.

But before the Reds get too excited, they should check their fixture list: with Manchester United up next at Anfield in the FA Cup fourth round, February will see Liverpool welcome Tottenham home and meet United again at Old Trafford this time in the Premier League before the big Carling Cup final against the Welsh side (followed by Arsenal at home in the league!).

It will be make or break time for Kenny Dalglish over the next few weeks, the Reds expectantly waiting for their first trophy since 2006.

Liverpool Goals: 1.: 39:53 min Steven Gerrard (8) penalty, 2.: 73:36 min Craig Bellamy (39).

Liverpool: Reina; Glen Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique (booked 64); Henderson, Adam, Downing, Gerrard (booked 5); Bellamy (Kelly 87), Kuyt (Carroll 91). (4-4-2)
Subs not used: Doni, Coates, Shelvey, Carragher, Maxi.

Man City Goals: 1.: 30:51 min Nigel De Jong (34), 2.: 66:38 min Edin Dzeko (10).

Man City: Hart; Richards, Savic (Aguero HT), Lescott, Kolarov (booked 56); De Jong (Adam Johnson 78), Barry, Zabaletta; Silva, Nasri, Dzeko. (4-3-3)
Subs not used: Pantilimon, Hargreaves, Milner, Clichy, Rekik.

1st & 2nd half stats:
Liverpool-Man City
Attempts: 8-2 & 7-4
On target: 6-1 & 5-3
Offsides: 4-0 & 2-1
Corners: 8-1 & 4-1
Free kicks: 2-4 & 5-3

Sky Stats:
Liverpool-Man City
Possession: 38%-62% (19.min), 40.5%-59.5% (1st half), 35.1%-64.9% (2nd half) & 37.9%-62.1% (FT)
Passing Success: 74.6%-86.7
Territorial Advantage: 55.5%-45.5%
Action Areas: Liverpool 12%-41%-47% Man City (59.min)

Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
Man of the match: Craig Bellamy

UEFA Champions League Preview

Sports - Football - UEFA Champions League

After a four-week break, Europe's most prestigious competition is back.

The eagerly awaited quarter finals kick off tonight with defending English and European champions Manchester United facing the 2004-winners Porto at home and 2006-finalists Arsenal playing Villarreal in the Estadio El Madrigal.

The Spaniards have never lost a Champions League game at their home ground but Gunners manager Arsene Wenger dismissed suggestions that his team will just play for a draw.

"We cannot approach the game in any other way than to win," he said on Sky Text. "There is no other way to approach any football game."

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has warned his side not to underestimate their Portuguese opposition that finished above Arsenal in the group stage and then beat Atletico Madrid in the last 16 and to take nothing for granted. His side are unbeaten in 19 games at home.

"It would be stupid to think this is going to be easy, " said Ferguson on Sky Text.

"It's a big test for us. By beating Atletico Madrid, Porto proved they will be hard to beat. Physically they are very strong..

"Complacency does not come into it for us. We will be going at full throttle in order to get the result we want."

Ferguson admits that Federico Macheda has forced his way in to be considered for tonight's match at Old Trafford after his heroic last-gasp winner against Aston Villa last Sunday and confirmed that he will be involved on the bench.

Tomorrow, Joan Laporta's Barcelona, who won the competition in 2006, welcome German Champions Bayern Munich to the Camp Nou. Jürgen Klinsmann's side hammered Sporting Lisbon out of the competition12-1 on aggregate in the last 16.

In the other quarter final of the night, Premier League rivals Liverpool and Chelsea meet at Anfield for the fifth season in a row in the Champions League, the second leg hosts going through on all three occasions they met in the knock-out stages.

Reds star Jamie Carragher still believes his side have a psychological advantage over Chelsea having done the double on their rivals in the league, beating their record 86-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge in the process.

"We've got a great record against Chelsea this season, " he told Liverpoolfc.tv.

"And if we play the way we have done against them in the two league matches then we know we can go through.

"The fact we did the double against them might give us that extra confidence. I'm sure if they'd beaten us twice we'd have gone into it with a bit more trepidation, but the fact we won twice will give us a bit of a boost."

Meanwhile, Chelsea are waiting on their striker DidierDrogba's fitness. He has missed his side's 2-0 victory at Newcastle on Saturday due to his ankle injury and is said to be making slow progress after jarring it again in training.

However, Blues manager Guus Hiddink will not haste or pressure the 31-year-old during the process of recovery.

"He is with our medical staff," said Hiddink on Sky Text.

"He suffered a reaction to an ankle injury he picked up in training. We'll just have to see if he can train and take it from there."

Following the Ivory Coast stadium disaster, Hiddink insists Drogba is mentally ready.

"You can't forget something like that when it's happened," he said.

"And of course we won't, but life goes on and the best thing is to get back to work, which is what Salomon Kalou did against Newcastle."

The second leg ties will be played next week, 14/15 April. The winner of the all-English tie between Liverpool and Chelsea will face either Barcelona or Bayern in the semis and if Manchester United progress against Porto, they may have to overcome their London rivals Arsenal if they conquer against Villarreal to be able to defend their European crown in the final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May.

Predicted semi-finalists: Manchester United, Arsenal; Barcelona, Liverpool.

Predicted finalists: Manchester United, Liverpool.