Blue thunder
Willian and Barkley on target as Klopp’s men slump again
There was always going to be a day, said Jurgen Klopp in those times Liverpool had forgotten what losing felt like, when his team would have to face a setback this season, although he could not have envisaged them coming as intensely as they have in the past two weeks.
Fifteen days, to be precise, in which Liverpool have lost in the Champions League, the Premier League and now the FA Cup, which has done little to alter their course in the league they prize above all, but has at least diminished the aura. This was not the fully-charged Klopp XI that one suspects he will send out against Atletico Madrid in their second leg next Wednesday but then very few of the big clubs play their first team in the FA Cup.
Certainly Frank Lampard did not and yet his Chelsea side summoned a spirit that carried them into the FA Cup quarter-finals, with the help of an error from Klopp’s second-choice goalkeeper, Adrian and, of more concern to the Liverpool manager, the occasional vulnerability of his centre-backs. As with that defeat by Watford on Saturday it was the form of Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk that gave reason for Klopp to be uncomfortable, with both looking exposed at times.
Yet this was a fine Chelsea performance, one which was much needed for Lampard in the only competition that his club might realistically win now, and a night when the home support acclaimed another emergent academy talent. That was the splendid little Scottish teenager Billy Gilmour, the kind of 18-year-old who still needs to produce his driving licence to buy a drink but plays like he has been roaming the first-team midfield for years.
He was not the only impressive teenager chucked into the FA Cup action, along with Wales’s Neco Williams and England’s Curtis Jones on the opposing side, who both came bouncing as enthusiastically into senior-team action as they have in the past this season. Gilmour is not new to the Chelsea first team either but his composure was a general delight, and by the time Fabinho was bewitched by his feint and turn in the second half, Stamford Bridge was already singing its man’s name.
There was less regret from Klopp post-match than there had been on Saturday, when he conceded that the performance was woeful – instead this was about two colossal defensive errors that allowed Chelsea in for goals from Willian and Ross Barkley. The latter threw himself into this Cup tie, for obvious reasons, and his run from his own half in the 64th minute followed by a sharp drive past Adrian was the
Evertonian’s first goal against Liverpool in 12 games.
Lampard’s Chelsea are a difficult team to predict, in form and mood, and after their indifferent results of late this showed that the team can still seize the initiative on their better days. There was a good performance from Pedro in what has been a largely forgettable final season at the club for him. So too Kepa Arrizabalaga, now relegated to the position of FA Cup goalkeeper but who made a fine triple save midway through the first half. Olivier Giroud did not quite convert his chance in the second half but he, too, looked effective.
There were also injuries for Mateo Kovacic and Willian, which may well add to the problems Lampard already has in midfield, with N’golo Kante out, and Jorginho facing a suspension. Yet the Chelsea manager had reason to be upbeat later, answering questions about a recent meeting he held with his players when they agreed that they could all do more to reach the standards expected of them. With another academy star stepping up, and an FA Cup win over an old rival, this was a good night for the Chelsea manager.
Klopp had selected a side with seven changes from the starting XI who had lost at Vicarage Road three days earlier, and it was a joyfully open start to a Cup tie, as if both teams had resolved not to waste the whole evening on extra-time and penalties. Jones looked confident playing in a midfield diamond with Takumi Minamino operating behind Mane and Divock Origi.
Liverpool tried unsuccessfully on 13 minutes to play out from the right-back position, from Williams, to Gomez and then on to Fabinho – each pass making it look less likely they would retain the ball until it was indeed given up and Willian had space for the shot.
It was hard to explain what Adrian, in goal in place of Alisson for this fifth-round tie, was doing, but he seemed to indicate that he had been unsighted. He failed to catch the ball and instead it went in off his hip – an outcome to which Klopp reacted with disbelief.
Chelsea counter-attacked on Liverpool’s errors twice, breaking through for the second goal on the first occasion. Barkley picked up the ball in his own half when possession was turned over and his run continued unchallenged until he was well within shooting range.
What happened to the Liverpool defence? No one could say exactly but Fabinho’s half-hearted pursuit ended rather too early for Klopp’s liking and at the same time, Gomez and Van Dijk both declined to offer a challenge until the point that Barkley switched the ball on to his left and sent it past Adrian. Four minutes later, Pedro was permitted to run solo behind the defence but failed to finish.
Chelsea