Craig Bellamy starred as Liverpool booked a place in the Carling Cup final with a 2-2 draw against Manchester City at Anfield.
Kenny Dalglish's team were dominant and should have won the game on the night, instead having to settle for a nervy draw and 3-2 aggregate win that was just enough to earn their place at Wembley, where they will face Cardiff City on February 26.
Nigel de Jong had pulled City back into the tie by opening the scoring from distance, before Steven Gerrard equalised with a penalty before half-time.
Liverpool continued to press, but City goalkeeper Joe Hart was outstanding and Edin Dzeko tapped in with a goal that would have seen Roberto Mancini's team progress on away goals after extra time.
The game did not reach that stage, though, as the excellent Cardiff-born Bellamy, who played for the club on loan last season, finally found a way past Hart in open play to seal the tie in the 74th minute.
Liverpool started strongly as Hart superbly denied Jose Enrique from close range, with Downing blasting the rebound high and wide, before Adam tested the goalkeeper from distance.
Bellamy did beat Hart in the 25th minute after sneaking in behind Savic and Lescott, but the Welshman was ruled offside.
City's opener in the 31st minute came against the run of play, cancelling out the Reds' first-leg advantage.
David Silva was again involved, laying on a pass to De Jong, who brilliantly curled past Pepe Reina from 25 yards while losing his footing on the slippery Anfield surface.
Charlie Adam, superb in attack, was the creator as Liverpool grabbed a controversial equaliser.
When the 26-year-old's low cross from the right bounced out to Agger, there was little Richards could do to prevent the shot hitting his arm.
Referee Phil Dowd was unforgiving, though, and pointed to the spot, with Gerrard coolly slotting home to restore his team's one-goal aggregate lead.
A good Liverpool move down the right-hand side early in the second half allowed Dirk Kuyt to sting Hart's palms with a driven effort that deflected off of Richards, before the 24-year-old 'keeper made a second, even better save to deny Martin Skrtel, who had latched on to a loose ball in the City penalty area.
Pre-occupied with defending, City struggled to sustain any sort of attacking pressure.
Still, though, they found another goal - again against the run of play. Aleksander Kolarov charged down the left and fired in a cross that evaded Aguero but was met by Dzeko, who tapped in at the far post.
With their two shots on target, City had scored two goals and they looked on course for a smash-and-grab win.
However, the visitors had little grounds for complaint when Liverpool stepped back into the lead. After receiving a pass from Kuyt, Bellamy found enough space to shoot beyond Hart after an intricate one-two with Glen Johnson.