LiverpoolÕs Norwegian defender John Arne Riise (r) scores an own goal against Chelsea during their UEFA Champions League semifinal football match at Anfield in Liverpool April 22.

Chelsea escaped from Liverpool with a 1-1 draw after the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Tuesday, rescued by an injury time own goal from substitute John Arne Riise.
According to Reuters, Dirk Kuyt had given Liverpool the lead after 43 minutes when he fired between goalkeeper Petr Cech’s legs and with almost five minutes of injury time played, it looked as though Liverpool would take a deserved lead to Stamford Bridge for next week’s second leg.
However with Austrian referee Konrad Plautz looking at his watch; Chelsea substitute Salomon Kalou lofted one last high ball into the Liverpool penalty area.
Riise, who had replaced the injured Fabio Aurelio after 62 minutes, stooped to try and head the ball clear, but instead headed it past helpless goalkeeper Pepe Reina and into the roof of his own net.
It gave Chelsea a share of the spoils they hardly deserved as Liverpool dominated for long periods but were denied by some outstanding saves from Cech.
With time almost up it looked as though the seventh meeting between the teams in the Champions League in the last four seasons was about to end in a 1-0 score line for the fourth time.
Instead this match became the first to produce two goals and leave the tie on a knife-edge with Chelsea the slight favorites to advance to the final in Moscow on May 21.
Meanwhile, Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic is a doubt for Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal first leg against Barcelona after going down with a stomach bug.
According to AP, the Serb missed training at the Nou Camp on Tuesday and Spanish media said he had been taken to the Hospital de Bellvitge late in the evening for an assessment of his condition.
Manchester United was unavailable for immediate comment about the player.
Fellow defender Wes Brown is also likely to face a late fitness test after he only briefly took part in Tuesday’s training session, jogging around the pitch rather than joining in with the rest of his team mates.

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic advanced to the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters by defeating Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-3 Tuesday.
According to AP, the Australian Open champion broke Ljubicic at love in the eighth game of the first set for a 5-3 lead and clinched the set with an ace.
Using a two-handed backhand to counter Ljubicic’s booming serve, Djokovic saved two break points in the eighth game of the second set but was rarely troubled.
“I came up with a straight-set win, which is very important for me at the start of the clay-court season,“ Djokovic said. “I played my best tennis in the most important moments, and that’s what actually matters most.“
The Serb will meet Andy Murray, who beat Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-4, 6-1.
“I had to adapt my game a little bit,“ Murray said. “I managed to do that with some important points in the first set. I probably made him come to the net quite a few times as well, with short slices and drop shots.“
Murray is expecting a more difficult match against Djokovic.
“Novak is No. 1 in the (ATP) race and won the first Grand Slam of the year,“ Murray said. “So it’s going to be tough.“

Organizers of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will try again to sell tickets online. The final batch of domestic-market tickets--1.38 million--will go on sale beginning May 5, organizers announced on Wednesday. Tickets will be sold at Bank of China outlets and on an official website, with sales closing June 9. The Beijing Olympics open on August 8.
According to AP, overwhelming demand for tickets caused a computer system to crash after just a few hours when the previous sales phase opened six months ago, forcing organizers to revert to a lottery system.
The system was also used in the initial phase of domestic ticket sales. “Well, we have only 100 days to go before the opening ceremony. We don’t have enough time for a lottery drawn,“ said Zhu Yan, director of the ticketing center for the Beijing organizing committee. “We don’t have time for that to be done.“
Zhu tried to give assurances that ’fake or counterfeit tickets’ would be difficult to produce and would be detected. Forgeries could present a problem in China, where counterfeiting of goods from DVDs to heart medicine is widespread despite repeated crackdowns.

Philipp Lahm

Bayern Munich have withdrawn the offer of a new contract to Philipp Lahm after failing to reach agreement with the Germany defender, who said on Tuesday he was eager to move abroad.
Lahm’s existing deal runs out at the end of next season and Bayern said in a statement that talks on an extension had not been successful.
Bayern must now decide whether to sell him at the end of this season or risk losing him on a free transfer in 2009.
Lahm, 24, who scored the first goal of the 2006 World Cup and is a regular for Germany, has been linked with Barcelona in local media reports.
“My plan is to leave Bayern before I’m past my peak,“ Lahm said in an interview with Stern magazine.
“I played for two years at Stuttgart and I’m in my third year at Bayern, the biggest German club. The logical next step is to go abroad.“
Asked if he could leave at the end of this season, Lahm said: “That’s quite possible.“
Bayern, who won the German Cup on Saturday and have a 10-point lead in the Bundesliga with five matches to play, are already working on plans for next season.
On Tuesday they agreed to sell forward Jan Schlaudraff to Hanover 96 for an undisclosed fee.