Champions League: Own Goal Saves Chelsea

John Arne Riise might want find a good place to hide for a few days. I hear New Zealand is nice this time of year.

In the last possible second of stoppage time, the Liverpool substitute defender made a complete mess of Solomon Kalou's wicked cross into the box. Instead of just kicking it away, he dove down to head it away, and it ended up in the back of his own net. Cue stunned silence of Reds supporters. Cue amazingly lifelike celebration by Avram Grant.

Just like that, Dirk Kuyt's nutmegging of Petr Cech an hour earlier -- the only shot Cech couldn't stop all day -- became irrelevant. Just like that, Chelsea had a 1-1 draw and a big advantage after the Anfield leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal match. Just like that, John Arne Riise may have become the Scousers' Bill Buckner.

For Chelsea, it was clearly better to be lucky than good. They didn't generate nearly as many scoring opportunities as Liverpool, and too much of their attack involved kicking it long to Didier Drogba and hoping he could draw a free kick near the box. Petr Cech and his incredible expanding headgear, however, kept Liverpool in the match, and Riise's howler allowed Chelsea to take a valuable away goal back to Stamford Bridge, where Liverpool haven't scored at all since 2004.

Indeed, Riise shares more in common with Buckner than we might know. After all, Riise might not have been in the game at all if it weren't for Fabio Aurelio getting carried off the pitch in the 62nd minute with a leg injury. Of course, that won't stop anyone from making jokes about anything and everything things bouncing off his melon -- especially if Liverpool comes up short next week in London.

How vindicated would Avram Grant feel if after all the abuse he took from Blues fans this year, he took Chelsea to the Champions League final? That's the one thing Jose Mourinho couldn't do at Chelsea, and it's the one trophy Roman Abramovich wants the most. Wouldn't that be quite an ending?