LONDON, May 6: Monaco rode an early storm to draw 2-2 at Chelsea on Wednesday and cruise into the Champions League final 5-3 on aggregate.
Monaco will meet Portugal's Porto in the May 26 final in Gelsenkirchen, Germany but Chelsea looked the more likely winners when they roared into a 2-0 lead through goals by Jesper Gronkjaer and Frank Lampard to level the tie at 3-3.
The semifinal turned in first-half injury time, however, when the French side pulled a goal back through Hugo Ibarra and Fernando Morientes equalised on the hour. Needing three goals to progress Chelsea wilted and Monaco eased through the closing minutes to leave the London club's expensively assembled squad without a trophy this season.
Chelsea ultimately paid the price for some rash substitutions by coach Claudio Ranieri a fortnight ago in Monaco, which turned a 1-1 draw into a 3-1 defeat, and the Italian looks certain to lose his job in the near future.
Chelsea, who were missing skipper Marcel Desailly and midfielder Claude Makelele through suspension, showed plenty of courage but only briefly looked like overturning the first-leg deficit.
The hosts hit the accelerator right from the start, with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen providing the threat up front and Lampard pulling the strings in midfield.
They went ahead after 22 minutes when Gronkjaer's attempted cross from the right flew into the top corner of the net for a freak goal. Monaco responded when Morientes struck the post from close range and the striker then missed a simple chance to equalise but Chelsea were dominating and deservedly doubled their advantage a minute from halftime.
Mario Melchiot exchanged passes with Gudjohnsen and his layoff found Lampard who struck the ball sweetly into the corner from 10 metres. Monaco were stunned but deep into first-half stoppage time they struck a telling blow.
Midfielder Jerome Rothen found space down the left and his cross was headed against the post by Morientes to be turned over the line by Ibarra from point-blank range. Monaco were lifted and they effectively settled the tie on the hour when Morientes played a neat one-two and smashed the ball under Carlo Cudicini into the net. -Reuters
