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Crouch heads winner for Liverpool
 Crouch headed the winner after being left unmarked. CARDIFF, Wales -- An 80th minute header from England striker Peter Crouch gave FA Cup winners Liverpool a 2-1 win over lackluster Premier League champions Chelsea in the Community Shield at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Sunday. The goal deservedly secured the Shield outright for the 10th time - with five more shared - for Liverpool, who had gone ahead in the ninth minute with a 25 meter John-Arne Riise shot and looked far more cohesive than the Londoners. The one bright spot for Chelsea was a confident performance by 30 million pound ($56.9 million) striker Andriy Shevchenko, who equalized in the 43rd minute. His goal was a typical predatory effort and he looked comfortably at home in his new environment after his close-season move from AC Milan. It was not such an auspicious start for Chelsea's other big-name arrival, however, as Germany captain Michael Ballack earned the first booking of the game and limped off with a hip problem midway through the first half. Afterwards Ballack phoned new Germany coach Joachim Low and declared himself unfit for Wednesday's friendly against Sweden. Sunday's game, the prelude to next weekend's start of the Premier League season, failed to capture the imagination of the Chelsea fans and there were swathes of empty seats as only 56,275 filed into the 74,000 capacity stadium. The absentees seemed to have made a wise choice as Liverpool, with last week's Champions League qualifier against Maccabi Haifa already under their belts, unsurprisingly looked the more settled side. They blasted into the lead when left back Riise collected the ball inside his own penalty area, advanced unopposed down the right deep into Chelsea territory before unleashing a powerful low shot that somehow found a way past goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, who had appeared to have it covered. Mohamed Sissoko outshone Ballack in midfield as Liverpool dominated the first half but Chelsea drew level when Frank Lampard chipped an inch-perfect 30-meter pass to Shevchenko, who chested the ball down on the run before expertly steering it beyond Jose Reina.  Shevchenko was one of the few Chelsea players to look sharp. Shevchenko looked sharper than he did during the World Cup for Ukraine, when he struggled for fitness after a knee injury, but few of his new team mates matched his display. Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho lamented the fact that so few of his squad were match-fit and did his best to sharpen up as many as possible with regular substitutions. With Benitez also using his full allocation of five changes, the second half was never able to settle into any rhythm. However, one of those substitutes was Liverpool's livewire forward Craig Bellamy and he created the winner when he skipped down the left wing and crossed to Crouch, who was left unmarked in front of goal. Liverpool's fans, who used to treat this fixture as a mere sideshow to their regular league title wins, greeted the victory as if they had won the Champions League again but they know a far more significant meeting will come in the league at Stamford Bridge on September 16. Before that, Liverpool will open new Premier League season next Saturday when they visit promoted Sheffield United, while Chelsea start on Sunday, at home to Manchester City. Neither coach will have much chance to work with his players this week as most of them will be involved with their national squads for Wednesday night's extensive program of friendlies. 
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