Soccer: Liverpool beat Chelsea in Cup, Arsenal and Spurs draw

LONDON - Liverpool reached the FA Cup final and foiled Chelsea's bid for the league-Cup double with a 2-1 victory in their semifinal at Old Trafford in Manchester overnight.

Rafael Benitez's side will meet either Middlesbrough or West Ham United, who meet in the other semifinal at Villa Park in Birmingham tonight NZ time, in the May 13 final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

"To win this game was amazing... I think in the end the players worked so hard, we deserved to win," said Benitez, relieved that his team withstood Chelsea's late onslaught.

Liverpool went ahead midway through the first half when John Arne Riise scored from a free kick, curling a low shot between Paulo Ferreira and Frank Lampard at the near end of the wall and past unsighted keeper Carlo Cudicini.

Chelsea conceded the second goal from a throw-in on the right on 53 minutes when a poor headed clearance fell to Luis Garcia. The Spaniard raced away from three defenders to hit a dipping shot high into the far top corner.

"It was a fantastic goal for Luis and necessary for us," said Benitez.

Didier Drogba put Chelsea back into the game with 20 minutes to go when Liverpool made a hash of clearing the ball and keeper Jose Reina, racing off his line, was caught out of position by the striker's header.

The last chance of an equaliser and extra time was lost when Joe Cole missed a gilt-edged chance in the fifth minute of stoppage time, hammering a cross from the right over the bar with only Reina to beat.

In the Premiership, Thierry Henry came off the bench to salvage a 1-1 draw for Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur in a highly-charged final north London derby.

The Frenchman, one of several first choice players left out of the starting line-up by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, produced a sublime 83rd-minute finish to cancel out Robbie Keane's controversial opener for Tottenham.

Tottenham, who remain four points above Arsenal in fourth place and on course to claim the final Champions League qualification berth, ended with 10 men after Edgar Davids was shown a red card.

Portsmouth moved out of the relegation zone when a late penalty from Matthew Taylor gave them a 2-1 victory over already doomed Sunderland. They swapped places with Birmingham City who could only draw 0-0 at Everton.

West Bromwich Albion look certain to join Sunderland after a 3-0 defeat at Newcastle United left them six points from safety.

Portsmouth have 35 points with two games remaining, Birmingham are on 33 and West Brom 29.

Newcastle remain in seventh place to maintain their UEFA Cup hopes, although Bolton Wanderers are just two points behind them with a game in hand after beating Charlton Athletic 4-1.

- REUTERS