Beautifully balanced
MO STUNNER SINKS CHELSEA AFTER CITY WIN AGAIN TO LEAVE TITLE RACE . . .
THE only place to start is the 53rd minute. Liverpool had just taken the lead in a game of huge importance when Virgil van Dijk switched play out to the right flank.
There, waiting, was Mohamed Salah. His control was perfect and a deft touch enabled him to drift past Chelsea left back Emerson; his next touch, though, threatened to carry him into the path of Jorginho. So here he was, 30 yards from goal, on an angle, with blue shirts crowding in.
Where some see difficulties, others see opportunity. No prizes for guessing which option Salah chose.
Back came his left foot and a shot of such ferocity was unleashed that it had arrowed beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga before he had started to dive. It brought pandemonium to Anfield.
‘Wow!’ Jurgen Klopp said simply, with a telling smile. ‘It blew me away.’
Liverpool’s manager was not alone in being left dumbfounded by what he saw. It was glorious and the moment needs such a description because it may yet turn out to be the pivotal incident in the highest quality title race the Premier League has ever seen.
Chelsea are deeply troublesome opponents for Liverpool and they arrived on Merseyside in the mood to be menaces, just as was the case in April 2014. They caused plenty of problems, not least the wondrous Eden Hazard with his balletic grace and glorious touch.
But Salah’s firecracker of a drive helped lift Liverpool over the line at a time when the pressure is ramping up by the minute. To come up with such glorious inspiration when his team most needed it told you everything: Liverpool are going to the wire.
Pep Guardiola must be sick of the sight of this red foe. Each time Manchester City post a big win, Liverpool return the message with interest. Whatever’s said after close of play on May 12, one accusation that won’t be levelled is that they lacked stomach for the fight.
Salah might have produced a goal for the ages but the bedrock for this performance was hard work and a refusal to panic; they the were clinical and removed from the emotion, staying in control during a first half that resembled the tentative early rounds of a heavyweight fight.
There was clear and present danger every time the twisting and turning Hazard received possession and it explained the heavy treatment to which he was subjected. Twice in the opening 18 minutes he was left wincing on the ground following challenges from Fabinho and Joel Matip.
To his credit, Hazard never made a fuss and simply tried to roll with the punches. On the touchline, his manager looked ready to explode and the third time Hazard was clattered into — Fabinho again — Maurizio Sarri erupted at fourth official Craig Pawson. If Sarri looked like he might lose control, the same could not be said of his team, who were well drilled. They stayed deep on the edge of their area but it meant Liverpool had no little pockets of space to exploit.
‘The target was to arrive at the
last 25 minutes with 0- 0,’ Sarri explained later. ‘We defended well but Liverpool are such a difficult team to play.’
that may be true but Liverpool found it difficult. they were neat, tidy and had bundles of energy but, in terms of putting pressure on Arrizabalaga, all they managed before half-time was a scuffed volley from Salah and a shot wide from Sadio Mane.
Parallels could easily be drawn with five years ago. Chelsea tried to inflict damage on the counter-attack — the best opportunity came when David Luiz ushered Willian forward — and it would have been intriguing to see how Liverpool would have coped had they fallen behind.
What they produced in the second half, however, was a performance to exorcise the ghosts. they were fast and furious, getting stronger with every step that takes them nearer to the finish. When it all clicked, Chelsea’s defence were seeing stars.
the breakthrough goal came in the 51st minute, when Salah dashed into the area and forced a mistake out of emerson that allowed the superb Jordan Henderson to reach the byline and cross to the back post. Mane was waiting to apply the tension-busting headed finish.
then came the goal. Sarri called it ‘wonderful’ and although Salah says it is not the best he has scored for Liverpool — he rates a strike against everton in December 2017 higher — its meaning cannot be overstated.
Quite how the game would have turned out had Hazard found the corner of the net rather than strike a post in the 59th minute — or Alisson not made two key saves — can only be debated. What is not up for argument is the importance of these three points for Liverpool. those looking for omens will see that Liverpool’s last win over Chelsea at Anfield in the month of April came in 1990. that season, Spurs finished third ahead of fourth-placed Arsenal with Chelsea fifth. Liverpool, of course, finished as champions. Be under no illusion they are playing like prospective champions again. they
might just do it.