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"Liverpool" club won their first trophy of the season. Rafael Benitez's players triumphed 2-1 in the "Community Shield" final match, where the country's champion and FA Cup winner, against London's "Chelsea".
2 - 1 London "Chelsea" 9' [1 - 0] John Arne Riise 44' [1 - 1] Andrei Shevchenko 80' [2 - 1] Peter Crouch
"Liverpool": P.Reina; S.Finnan, D.Agger, J.Carragher, J.A.Riise; J.Pennant (60' S.Gerrard), M.Sissoko, B.Zenden (60' X.Alonso), M.Gonzalez (56' F.Aurelio); P.Crouch (89' F.Sinama Pongolle), L.Garcia (66' C.Bellamy).
"Chelsea": C.Cudicini; Paulo Ferreira (81' J.O.Mikel), J.Terry, R.Carvalho, N.Geremi (53' W.Bridge); M.Ballack (26' S.Kalou), F.Lampard; A.Shevchenko, D.Drogba (71' S.Wright-Phillips), A.Robben (62' L.Diarra).
The match started with a high tempo from both teams, but the attacks lacked accuracy, so there were not many dangerous opportunities for some time. However, the wait for a goal was not long.
It all started in the "Liverpool" half, when in the 7th minute, "Chelsea" Ukrainian player Andrei Shevchenko avoided the offside trap and dangerously entered the penalty area, but faced with active defense, had to settle for a corner kick.
Standard situations were not properly capitalized by the London team, and Liverpool took advantage of it perfectly - winning the ball in their own penalty area, defender J.A.Riise at high speed, without meeting any opponent, passed it to the opposite side of the field and with a precise low shot from 25 meters, outwitted the goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini who was unprepared for such a turn of events.
The match remained intense, as the game was tough, with no shortage of disputes. Due to a minor injury, in the middle of the first half, the German Michael Ballack from the London team had to leave the field.
Although Liverpool continued to have the initiative, neither team had good opportunities to score a goal. As the first half was coming to an end, the players became active again - at first, Liverpool's Mark Gonzalez tested the goalkeeper's alertness with a shot from the edge of the penalty area, and in the 44th minute, the score unexpectedly became equal.
Frank Lampard noticed Andrei Shevchenko sprinting in the middle of the field, gave a precise pass to the attacker, and received his reward - the Ukrainian successfully controlled the ball and, facing goalkeeper Pepe Reina alone, scored the equalizing goal easily.
After conceding the goal, Liverpool's players were a bit shaken, but Chelsea did not take advantage of it, as a few minutes later the referee blew the whistle for half-time.
Five minutes into the second half, B.Zenden entered the penalty area, but the defenders managed to disrupt the Dutchman and he shot very inaccurately. Chelsea responded with two dangerous attacks - first, goalkeeper P.Reina 'pulled out' Didier Drogba's unexpected shot from a sharp angle, and immediately after a corner kick, the Spaniard had work to do to head away Shevchenko's shot.
After these episodes, the situation on the field stabilized again - Liverpool controlled the situation, while Chelsea relied more on counterattacks. Just when it seemed like the match was heading towards a penalty shootout, the substitute Peter Crouch, who had been quietly playing throughout the game, spoke up - after a substitution on the field, another striker Craig Bellamy made an accurate pass from the left attacking side and the tall Englishman, without much difficulty, headed the ball into the net from a few meters away for the second time past C.Cudicini.
That was not all - a few moments later, Chelsea's goalkeeper somehow managed to deflect a weak but unexpected and very dangerous shot from Fabio Aurelio from close range.
Although the London team had to equalize, a more serious threat did not arise in front of P.Reina's goal, so Liverpool won a deserved victory and delighted their fans after a few unsuccessful friendly and first official matches of the season.
