Few sparks in bore draw

A jaded-looking Chelsea need to find an extra gear if their runaway season is not to hit the wall over the next week. The Premier League lea...

A jaded-looking Chelsea need to find an extra gear if their runaway season is not to hit the wall over the next week. The Premier League leaders had the best of the first half against Liverpool in their eagerly anticipated all-English Champions League semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday but faded in the second to finish 0-0.

At the tail end of an incredible season, that sees them 11 points clear in the domestic league and having already won the League Cup, Chelsea have been gripped by a string of injuries and the sheer number of matches for club and country that most of the team have played are beginning to tell.

Last night, the English champions-elect could find no way through a superbly-marshalled Liverpool defence. Liverpool, who drew 0-0 at Juventus in the quarter-finals to reach the last four 2-1 on aggregate, employed the same defensive approach with a stifling five-man midfield.

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There were very few scoring chances in the second half as Chelsea, trying to reach the final for the first time, continually came up against the outstanding Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher at the heart of the Liverpool Defence.

The visitors limited their forays to occasional bursts forward and substitute Djibril Cisse had their only real scoring chance in the second period but fired into the side netting after 68 minutes, two minutes after replacing Milan Baros.

Luis Garcia and Steven Gerrard worked tirelessly for Liverpool, who will have to do without their midfield colleague Xabi Alonso in the second leg after the leggy Spaniard picked up a harsh late booking for a foul on Eidur Gudjohnsen.

All the best chances came in an entertaining opening half.