Ivanovic brace leaves Reds reeling

Liverpool stunned their visitors when Fernando Torres put them ahead in the sixth minute but Ivanovic headed Chelsea level before the interval with his first goal for the club.

The Serbian right-back repeated the feat in the 62nd minute and Drogba completed the rout five minutes later to leave Liverpool with a massive task in the return leg at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday.

Liverpool could not have got off to a better start. Dirk Kuyt had already seen a shot deflected inches wide, before he produced a clever backheel on the edge of the box to set up Alvaro Arbeloa for a laid-back cross which was clinically driven past Petr Cech by Torres from 12 yards.

Yet that just served to galvanise Chelsea into sustained possession and pressure and a performance of growing assertiveness.

The alarm bells should have been ringing within two minutes of their goal for Liverpool when Salomon Kalou pounced on an Fabio Aurelio error to send Drogba clear - only for Jose Reina to make a fine, blocking save.

Liverpool were rattled, Torres isolated and Gerrard denied time and space. Torres curled one effort wide, and Arbeloa missed with a left-footer. But they were rare breaks from Liverpool, Chelsea already moving relentlessly towards an equaliser.

It came after 38 minutes when Malouda's right-wing corner was met with a firm header by Ivanovic, having evaded three defenders in the box as he darted and twisted into space to beat Reina from six yards.

Chelsea went for the throat straight after the break, and a 62nd-minute corner from Frank Lampard was again met by Ivanovic, again unmarked, as he powered another header past Reina to put the Blues ahead.

It soon got even better for Chelsea, and horribly worse for Liverpool. Five minutes after their second, Drogba arrived in the six-yard box to finish off a low cross from Florent Malouda on the left.