Cr-ouch - Liverpool crash out at Chelsea after striker walks for horror lunge

Sixty seconds is all it took to separate Chelsea and Liverpool last night: 60 seconds that lurched from the good (when Lampard scored), to the bad (when Crouch's horror tackle resulted in a red card) and the ugly (as both benches traded insults on the touchline).

Crouch was out of control and Liverpool are out of the competition. Simple as that.

For nearly an hour, these heavyweights of the Barclays Premier League shadow boxed, sparred and slugged towards a dramatic Carling Cup conclusion.

The absorbing tie had been building up to this fascinating climax. Lampard, denied by the brilliance of Liverpool goalkeeper Charles Itandje in the first half, scored with the aid of a deflection from Jamie Carragher.

Rough justice on the Liverpool skipper, but there was worse to come.

Crouch, who for long spells of the game was isolated from his teammates, spent time as a ball-boy at Stamford Bridge when he was a youngster. Evidently, he threw in his club colours a long time ago.

He was sent off in shame, sent off for stupidity and sent off without a second's hesitation by referee Martin Atkinson. A three match ban for a moment of madness. Merry Christmas, Crouchy.

That was the fourth red card of the England striker's career and although the protests from the Liverpool camp lasted long into the night, there could be no excuse.

It cannot be tolerated in a country which prides itself on fair play. Crouch is not alone, but he joins a lengthening list of players who have committed the cardinal sin of a two-footed tackle in recent weeks.

Obi was sent off at Manchester United in Avram Grant's first game in charge of Chelsea and, along with Stephen Ireland, Craig Gardner, John Terry, Emmanuel Eboue, El Hadji Diouf, Didier Zokora and Steed Malbranque, is among the miscreants who have been caught with their studs showing.

Some have escaped, some have not. Either way, it is time that the Premier League's 20 clubs and their highly paid players were given a fairly stiff reminder of their responsibilities.

Crouch was deservedly punished, but there was no need for Obi's reaction either.

He is already one of the most unpopular and inflammatory players in the league and he won't have done himself any favours last night.

He could have dusted himself down and got up, but instead he stayed down. That reaction broke an unwritten code among professional players and Benitez was quick to apportion blame.

'Twice Mikel tried to foul Crouch,' he protested. Pity, then, that Crouch reacted by wrapping his legs around the Chelsea midfielder.

There is real needle between these teams, a product of their epic Champions League confrontations over the past three seasons, and the west London air was thick with acrimony.

Liverpool still hold the upper hand — 'we've won it (the European Cup) five times' sang their supporters herded into The Shed — but the Carling Cup is Chelsea's territory.

Although Grant has admitted that the competition is a long way down his list of priorities, the cup is close to the players' hearts.

It is the first trophy the likes of Terry, Lampard and Petr Cech lifted under Jose Mourinho's leadership and there is a special affinity with the competition among these players.

Terry was missing last night, ruled out for three months with a fractured metatarsal, but these able-bodied Chelsea players were busting a gut for another semi-final appearance.

They face tougher competition this time round — Everton will be stiffer opposition than Wycombe Wanderers over a two-legged semi- final — but there is a determination to deliver.

For that, they have Lampard to thank. Overshadowed by Cesc Fabregas in the 1-0 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday, he had the measure of Liverpool's three-man midfield.

Full of running and full of enterprise, Chelsea's stand-in skipper separated the teams with a characteristic effort in the 59th minute.

His looping effort deflected its way past 25-year- old Frenchman Itandje.

It was cruel for Carragher, always outstanding whenever these teams lock horns, but Liverpool limped through this quarter-final.

Without Steven Gerrard snapping at Lampard's heels, they could not find any momentum. Crouch, who skewed hopelessly wide in the first half, spent long periods of the game isolated from his team-mates.

Andriy Voronin, Lucas, Xabi Alonso, Mohamed Sissoko and Ryan Babel are all comfortable in possession, but they lacked penetration.

Pretty passing is easy on the eye, but this Liverpool team should be setting their sights higher.

When Crouch was dismissed, they found a ready-made excuse for a quarter-final exit.

Chelsea sent on Michael Ballack as a substitute for his first appearance in nearly eight months and his impact was immediate.

Wayne Bridge crossed from the left, Ballack's flick found its way towards Andriy Shevchenko and his drilled effort easily beat Itandje at his near post.

It would be easy to point the finger of blame at the Liverpool keeper for his failure to spot Shevchenko's strike, but that responsibility lies elsewhere this morning.

'He lost his head,' said Benitez of Crouch. Not to mention his place in the team.

Chelsea: Cech, Bridge, Carvalho, Belletti, Ben-Haim, Essien, Obi, Lampard, Kalou, Shevchenko, Sinclair. Subs: Cudicini, Sidwell, Joe Cole, Ballack, Ferreira.

Liverpool: Itandje, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hobbs, Aurelio, Sissoko, Lucas, Alonso, Voronin, Crouch, Babel. Subs: Martin, Hyypia, Riise, Benayoun, El Zhar.

Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)