LIVERPOOL (Reuters) - Despite admitting to playing one of his worst games for Liverpool, Steven Gerrard was hailed a hero once again after helping his team overcome Arsenal in a pulsating Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.

The skipper kept his nerve to score an 85th minute penalty which put Liverpool 3-2 ahead on the night, before they went on to add another goal in injury time and reach the last four with a 5-3 aggregate success.

They will now meet Chelsea in the semi-finals for the third time in four seasons.

On Wednesday, the English media hailed Gerrard as the central figure in the memorable victory over Arsenal in the second leg of their tie.

But for the first 25 minutes, Gerrard, who became the first Liverpool player to score in four successive home European matches, was virtually a spectator, deployed out wide on the left of midfield.

The game began to turn Liverpool's way when he moved into a more central position, but Gerrard was honest enough to admit he had not played well.

"That was possibly one of the worst performances I have ever put in wearing a Liverpool shirt but I was confident I would score the penalty," he told reporters.

Gerrard epitomises Liverpool's astonishing powers of recovering lost causes in Europe.

MEMORABLE RECOVERY

Three years ago in Istanbul, he inspired a stunning fightback that saw Liverpool wipe out a 3-0 halftime deficit against AC Milan to lift the European Cup for a fifth time after drawing 3-3 and winning on penalties.

Earlier in that campaign, he also led a memorable recovery against Olympiakos to reach the knockout stage and was on target again in February when Liverpool scored twice in the last five minutes to defeat Inter Milan 2-0 at Anfield in the Round of 16.

However, with six minutes remaining on Tuesday, Arsenal looked set to advance after substitute Theo Walcott sprinted almost 80 metres from the edge of his penalty area to set up striker Emmanuel Adebayor for a stunning equaliser.

The Togo international's clinical finish had levelled the score at 2-2 on the night and 3-3 on aggregate, putting the north Londoners ahead on the away goals rule.

At that point, Arsene Wenger's determined side had done enough to reach the semi-finals for the second time in three seasons, but their world was turned upside down barely a minute later.

Liverpool substitute Ryan Babel surged into the penalty area and the referee ruled that he was bundled to the ground by Arsenal defender Kolo Toure and awarded the home side a penalty that was coolly dispatched by their skipper.

Another Arsenal strike would have earned them an away-goals victory but with all their players up field for a free-kick, the ball broke to Dirk Kuyt and he lofted it forward to Babel and the Dutchman outpaced Cesc Fabregas to seal Liverpool's passage into the last four.

(Editing by John O'Brien)