Chelsea reach semis after thrilling draw

By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) - Chelsea reached the Champions League semi-finals for the fifth time in six seasons after a thrilling 4-4 draw with Liverpool put them through 7-5 on aggregate against their Premier League rivals on Tuesday.

Liverpool, trailing 3-1 from the first leg at Anfield and without injured captain Steven Gerrard, threatened to pull off a sensational comeback but ultimately failed in their quest to reach the last four and a meeting with Barcelona.

The 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster on Wednesday added to the raw emotion and electrifying atmosphere at Stamford Bridge as Liverpool built a 2-0 lead, then trailed 3-2 before coming back to go 4-3 ahead with seven minutes left.

Chelsea, without suspended skipper John Terry, scored a late equaliser through Frank Lampard, his second goal of the game.

Needing at least three goals to give themselves a chance of saving the tie, Liverpool went 1-0 up after 19 minutes thanks to fine improvisation from Brazilian Fabio Aurelio.

The defender shaped to sweep the ball across the line of defenders and to Liverpool's waiting players, but instead fired into the gap that Chelsea keeper Petr Cech created by his near post as he was organising his defence. Cech desperately scrambled across to stop the shot but it was in the back of the net before he had a chance of saving it.

Serbian Branislav Ivanovic, who scored twice in the first leg, turned from hero to villain by holding Xabi Alonso and conceding a penalty nine minutes later. Spaniard Alonso sent Cech the wrong way to make it 2-0 and 3-3 on aggregate.

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