John Arne Riise scored a dramatic own goal in stoppage time as Chelsea earned a 1-1 draw with Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final.

Dirk Kuyt thought he had given his troops a 1-0 first-leg lead to take back to Stamford Bridge, having slotted from close range on 43 minutes at Anfield.

His goal came after Frank Lampard dithered in defence and was robbed of possession, allowing Javier Mascherano's mis-hit shot to loop into the path of Kuyt, who kept his cool to beat Petr Cech.

Rafa Benitez's Reds have proved to be Chelsea's nemeses in this competition, having ended their bid at the last-four stage twice before in recent seasons.

And it looked like it was going to be their night once again.

But sub Salomon Kalou's cross into the Reds' 18-yard box in the dying seconds was headed into his own net by Riise, meaning the battle to reach this season's final in Moscow is wide open ahead of the second leg in London.

The visitors made the brighter start to the encounter, with Didier Drogba's dangerous 20-yard free-kick hitting the home side's wall.

Kuyt and Joe Cole then spurned good chances at either end following poor first touches, and after Drogba was denied a penalty after going down in the box under a challenge by Jamie Carragher, Fernando Torres had the first clear-cut chance on 30 minutes but was denied by a brave Cech block.

Some clumsy defending by the Blues allowed Kuyt to break the deadlock just before the interval, and after the break Xabi Alonso's shot was deflected wide.

Ryan Babel then whistled a fierce 25-yard volley inches wide of the upright as Tom Hicks watched from the stands, but the Blues responded on 66 when Michael Ballack headed a Lampard free-kick straight at Jose Reina.

Florent Malouda's goalbound shot was deflected wide by Mascherano a minute later, but Cech twice kept his team in the tie late on, first tipping Steven Gerrard's thunderbolt volley over the crossbar on 85 and then stopping Torres' close-range strike in the dying minutes.

Those saves proved even more vital when Kalou sent a hopeful cross into the hosts' box in the fifth minute of stoppage time and saw Riise inexplicably head the ball past Reina into his own net.