Ballack fires Chelsea's Champs comeback

LONDON, England -- Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard were on target as Chelsea reached the semifinals of the Champions League for the fourth time in five years with a 2-0 triumph at Stamford Bridge.

Trailing 2-1 to Turkish side Fenerbahce from the first leg in Istanbul, Chelsea fought back to clinch a last-four tie against Premier League rivals Liverpool.

It will be the third time in four years the English pair have met in the last four of the competition but there is growing belief at Stamford Bridge that this could finally turn out to be Chelsea's year.

Avram Grant's side should have won by a much bigger margin -- and their victory was marred by an injury to goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.

It plunged Chelsea's goalkeeping crisis to a new low as first-choice stopper Petr Cech is out for at least two weeks after undergoing facial surgery.

Chelsea's desire to eradicate their one-goal disadvantage was evident from the start and they were given a massive lift in the fourth minute when Ballack put them level on aggregate.

A free-kick from Lampard found the Fenerbahce defense dreaming and the Germany captain glanced a fine header into the far corner of the net.

It was the perfect start for Grant's side but it almost got even better four minutes later when a superb run by Salomon Kalou on the left flank ended with Joe Cole hitting a post from the Ivorian's cross.

Ballack then tested Volkan Demirel from the rebound with a low drive which the Fenerbahce goalkeeper did well to save at his near post.

Chelsea were in the groove , but in the 25th minute Cudicini signalled to the bench that he could not continue, and on came Hilario.

Fenerbahce should have equalized when a free-kick from Alex found Lugano in space on the edge of the six-yard box. He could not direct his header on target and a golden opportunity to restore their aggregate lead went begging.

The double scare demonstrated Fenerbahce's ability to open up the Chelsea rearguard but

Moments later Chelsea squandered another chance to increase their lead on the night. Joe Cole and Drogba combined superbly on the right and when the ball dropped invitingly for the Ivorian striker, he forced Volkan into another diving save.

Drogba continued to cause the Turks problems in the second half, but with nine minutes left Chelsea had stand-in goalkeeper Hilario to thank for earning them a place in the semifinals.

He made two stunning saves within seconds to deny Gokhan and then Colin Kazim-Richards.

Chelsea then wrapped-up the tie with three minutes of normal time remaining when Michael Essien's cross was turned home by Lampard from close range.

However, some of the gloss was taken off their victory when Essien was shown a yellow card -- a booking that rules him out of the first leg against Liverpool. E-mail to a friend