Chelsea slow Gunners assault

LONDON: Frank Lampard’s late equaliser yesterday earned Chelsea a 2-2 draw and a FA Cup quarter-final football  replay. The result also put a temporary halt to Arsenal’s assault on a second successive double.

Arsenal looked on course to repeat their victory in last season’s final in Cardiff, despite John Terry giving Chelsea a shock early lead. Francis Jeffers and Thierry Henry — who had seen an earlier penalty saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini — put the holders ahead before the interval. But Chelsea refused to buckle and Claudio Ranieri’s side levelled through Lampard with eight minutes left to set up a replay at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal left out Gilberto Silva, Robert Pires, Sylvain Wiltord and Dennis Bergkamp from their starting line-up. And Chelsea made the perfect start to take advantage of uncharacteristically sloppy Arsenal defending after two minutes. Gianfranco Zola had already tested Seaman in the opening seconds before Chelsea took the lead. Arsenal appealed for offside when Jesper Gronkjaer’s cross found Terry, but the defender had timed his run to perfection to head past Seaman. The Gunners were shaken out of their usual composed stride, but were thrown a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty in the 19th minute.

Goalkeeper Cudicini got the slightest touch as he raced from goal to challenge Jeffers. but it was enough to see referee Paul Durkin point to the spot. Chelsea were furious, but also relieved when Cudicini was only awarded a yellow card. Cudicini clearly felt justice was done when he dived to his right to brilliantly save Henry’s resulting penalty. But all Chelsea’s good work went to waste when they allowed Arsenal to equalise in farcical fashion 10 minutes before the interval. Cudicini appeared to have averted danger when he saved from Freddie Ljungberg, but Celestine Babayaro made a hash of his clearance and allowed the lurking Jeffers to scramble home. Arsenal were suddenly revived, and almost took the lead three minutes later when Henry beat Cudicini but struck the post. The reprieve was short-lived — and Arsenal turned the tables on Chelsea as they took the lead on the stroke of half-time. Chelsea were under severe pressure, but wasted a glorious opportunity to equalise when they broke Arsenal’s shackles with 16 minutes left. Hasselbaink’s free-kick left William Gallas clear in front of goal, but he headed tamely over the top. And it was Hasselbaink who was the villain again as time started to run out for Chelsea. But Chelsea continued to edge their way back into contention and equalised with eight minutes left. Zenden’s corner caused an outbreak of mass confusion in the Arsenal six-yard box and Lampard got the final touch to score.