CHELSEA 2 – 1 LIVERPOOL
Chelsea – Caicedo 15’, Estevao 90+5’
Liverpool – Gakpo 63’
Pre-Match
I will be the first brave person to say, you know what? I haven’t quite enjoyed this last week of being a Liverpool fan. They have been not great against both Crystal Palace and Galatasaray. So if I could get some Mohamed Salah magic or something against Chelsea, that would be great, thank you.
Alisson Becker is out with a hamstring injury, so wishing for the team’s first clean sheet might be too much of an ask, but I will settle for Liverpool simply scoring more goals than their Blue counterparts today.
First Half
I’m hoping we see Alexander Isak starting to mesh better with the rest of the forward line. It’s unfair to expect an instant and seamless transition, but I can help but be impatient. A few missed opportunities between Salah and Isak in the first few minutes of this game showcase how far they still have to go.
It’s Chelsea who strike first. A rocket from Caicedo, who had all the room in the world to maneuver, gives poor Giorgi Mamardashvili no hope of saving it, and the Reds are a goal down inside of 15 minutes.
Conor Bradley gets booked for a foul on Cucurella. Liverpool are showing their frustration as the minutes tick by towards halftime without an equalizer.
It’s very nearly a disaster when Garnacho goes down in the penalty area. The fans are baying for the call, but the VAR check lets the Reds off. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca picks up his own yellow for arguing against the decision and play carries on.
It’s undeniable that Moises Caicedo is running rampant through the Liverpool midfield. There’s only a few minutes until halftime, but Arne Slot and his team need to come up with a way to counteract his influence in the middle. A change in structure or personnel may be in order in the second half.
Second Half
The second half starts with Florian Wirtz coming on for Conor Bradley. Immediately he livens things up. His lovely flick to Salah nearly gets them the goal they’re searching for within a minute of the restart. However, Salah’s effort is off. Still, that was the best chance of the game for Liverpool and hopefully bodes well for this half.
Salah tries again, this time off of Alexis Mac Allister’s pass. His shot is wide, and the Reds continue to search.
Off go Ibrahima Konaté and Milos Kerkez. In their places are Andy Robertson and Curtis Jones. Looks like Ryan Gravenberch moves back to center-back with Virgil van Dijk. This might be an injury for Konaté, otherwise it’s hard to explain this decision from Slot.
Finally! It’s Cody Gakpo who gets the equalizer in the end. He fires from a Dirk Kuyt-esque close range, slamming the ball into the top of the net. Liverpool are back in it with about 25 minutes left to play.
Salah’s left foot isn’t doing its usual work. He misses another, shooting over the bar.
The game has opened up now after that goal.
Ekitike comes on for Isak, who nearly earned them a penalty. Unfortunately, the referee didn’t see it that way.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Slot both go into the book. Szoboszlai pulls down a Chelsea player who got past him. Slot argued over the referee failing to call for a foul on Gakpo.
Five minutes to time, Mac Allister comes off for Wataru Endo to see things out.
Listen, we have entered some kind of opposite land, where our luck with last minute goals has completely reversed, and now it’s the other team who is winning with them. Estevao puts one away at 90+5’ to surely take all three points.
Final Thoughts
If Liverpool Football Club could please stop letting the other team score, that would just mean a lot to me, personally.