Chelsea went down 2-0 and earned a point in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday that does little for any side’s hopes of capturing Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. City’s lead is now on 10 points with Liverpool one point ahead of Chelsea, although there is a game in hand.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was absent with three key players due to positive coronavirus cases, but the Reds still took a two-goal lead thanks to gifts from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah before leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations .
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel made a bold call to abandon the record signing Romelu Lukaku after the Belgian attacker made public his displeasure at the German’s use of restraint.
Thanks to a brilliant strike from Matteo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic, the Blues still had the firepower to fight back before half-time.
But Chelsea have now won just one of their last five league games, while Liverpool have taken just two points from their last three games to allow City to advance to a fourth title in five seasons.
“At home we normally have a lot of draws,” Tuchel said after Stamford Bridge held it for the fifth time in six matches.
“There is no point in looking back, we have to focus from today and today and learn what we can do tomorrow.
“If we play with this energy and quality the results take care of themselves.”
It took just six seconds to explode to life in a thrilling 90 minutes from end to end of the first whistle, when Mane was lucky enough to run away with just a yellow card for the use of an elbow on Cesar Azpilicueta.
“If after 20 seconds a player gets a red card will it kill the game? Yes, but I’m sorry it’s a red card,” Tuchel said.
“I love the player, I love the guy (Mane), but if you push an elbow in the face it’s a red card.”
Liverpool were missing goalkeepers Alison Baker, Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino due to the Kovid infection.
However, Alison’s sensible Kaoimahin Kelleher proved her worth by saving an early face-off with Pulisic.
Chelsea’s frustration at Mane’s return only increased when Senegal took advantage of a mistake by Trevoh Chaloba to score international teammate Edouard Mendy and scored his first goal in 10 matches.
– Safe Standing Testing –
The return to standing in English top-flight football for the first time in 26 years as part of a trial contributed to an upbeat atmosphere with crowds in England despite record levels of Covid-19 infections.
But Salah silenced most of the moment inside Stamford Bridge with a surprise moment of quality to double Liverpool’s lead.
The Egyptian killed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass, went past Marcos Alonso and then slammed the ball over Mendy’s near post for his 23rd goal of the season.
Chelsea received their disciplinary relief after Mason Mount was not penalized by a VAR review for kicking out Costas Simikas.
This proved crucial as the European champions scored two goals in four minutes to level the break.
Kovacic’s goals are few and far between, but often spectacular and the Croatian was the target of the post-season contender.
With Liverpool still reeling, Pulisic made up for his earlier omission by picking up the ball over Kelleher.
Mount almost made a comeback in first-half stoppage time as his shot went wide.
In the second half the pace did not slow down and only the goalkeepers ensured that no more goals were scored.
Mendy was completely forced to reject Diogo Jota, Salah and Mane.
At the other end, Kelleher stood well enough to thwart Pulisic’s powerful attempt.
But a chunk of the spoils meant City were the real winners of the weekend after beating fourth-placed Arsenal 2-1 on Saturday.
“It’s a big difference, so they could have a title to lose at the moment,” said Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk.
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