All England Final

Chelsea 3 - 2 Liverpool (extra time) The third time was the charm for Chelsea as the Blues finally reach the Champions League final with a thrilling extra time victory over Liverpool. Having lost at the semi-final stage 3 of the past four seasons, and twice to Liverpool, Chelsea finally made it over the penultimate hurdle to reach the final of Europe's premier club competition. But it wasn't easy. � Chelsea dominated possession in the first half, and finally took the lead in the 33rd minute. Frank Lampard played a perfect long pass into the path of Salomon Kalou on the left wing. Kalou's shot was blocked by Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina, but Didier Drogba was on hand to slam the rebound just inside the right post for the opening goal. Chelsea took a 1-0 lead into half time. � In the second half, Liverpool began to make strides against the stingy Chelsea defense. And great work from Yossi Benayoun set up the tying goal. Benayoun cut in from the right, beat two defenders as he dribbled to the edge of the box, and fed Fernando Torres in front of goal. Torres quickly turned, and fired in the tying goal for Liverpool. � Both clubs searched for the winning goal, but at the 90 minute mark it was still tied, so extra time was required. And in extra time, Chelsea came out swining. Michael Essien looked to have put Chelsea in front again, but his blast from outside the box was ruled offside as two Chelsea players were standing in an offside position, even though it looked like they were not interfering with play. � Moments later, however, Chelsea were awarded a penalty when Sami Hyypia tooke down Michael Ballack just inside the box. Frank Lampard, who had missed Chelsea's last match due to the death of his mother, cooly stepped up to take the penalty, and his spot kick was perfect, just inside the right post as the Liverpool keeper dived the wrong way. Lampard grabbed the black arm band the team wore as a tribute to his mother as he celebrated with his teammates in an emotional moment. Lampard gestured to his father in the stands before the restart, and regardless of which team your support, you had to feel for Lampard. � And when Chelsea scored later in the first 15 minutes of extra time, you got the sense that it was destiny for Chelsea to finally make it past the semi-finals. Nicolas Anelka dribbled into the box and played a nice pass back to Drogba, who slammed home his second goal of the match to give Chelsea a 3-1 lead. � In the second 15 minutes of extra time, Liverpool scored a consolation goal when Chelsea keeper Petr Cech misplayed Ryan Babel's long range shot. Cech got a piece of the ball, but not enough to steer it wide of the goal. After a nervous final three minutes of the match, the Stamford Bridge crowd celebrated Chelsea's first ever appearance in the Champions League Final. They will face Manchester United in the first ever all England final. � Manchester United 1 - 0 Barcelona In the other semi-final, Manchester United advanced 1-0 on aggregate thanks to a brilliant long range striker from Paul Scholes. In a largely uneventful match, Scholes's goal was the difference after a 0-0 first leg in Barcelona. �