A feisty affair at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Liverpool ended in a 2-2 draw, further opening the ground for Manchester City to run away with the title.
Liverpool looked to be running away with the game when Sadio Mane opened the scoring capitalizing on a defensive error from Chelsea, before Mohammed Salah with his 16th goal of the Premier League campaign beautifully doubled the lead.
A resilient Chelsea fought back in the last three minutes of the first half to restore parity. Matteo Kovacic wonderfully cut the deficit, then Christian Pulisic completing the comeback.
Five changes were made to the Chelsea team that drew against Brighton in midweek. Prominently, Romelu Lukaku being dropped after the drama from the interview he granted to an Italian news outlet, while Reece James is still out injured.
Caoimhin Kelleher deputised in goal for Alisson Becker, who along with two other players; Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino and manager Jurgen Klopp were all put with Covid-19, while Andy Robertson was still on suspension.
The first action of the half ironically came in the first 15 seconds when Mane caught Cesar Azpilicueta with a straying hand and got booked, with the Chelsea fans thinking he should have been sent off.
The Senegalese almost caused problem for Chelsea moments later when he lost Trevor Chalobah and play Salah through, whose effort was thwarted by Edouard Mendy.
Chelsea pressed high and almost caught Liverpool napping when Kai Havertz closed down on Trent Alexander Arnold and the ball fell to Pulisic, who tried to round Kelleher, but the Irish got a hand to the ball.
Another error at the back from Chelsea would lead to the opener in the 9th minute when Chalobah was caught between heading or kicking a clearance and went for the former which he fumbled and inadvertently played the ball to the lurking Mane, who rounded Mendy to slot into an empty net.
The home team were doing the playing, but it was the visitors who were scoring and their lead was doubled in the 26th minute when Alexander Arnold found space between the Chelsea defence and released Salah, who took the ball in his strides, dummied the Chelsea defence and goalkeeper, before lifting his effort in at the near post.
Then a late resurgent in the first half saw the home side pull back the two goals. A free kick from the right from Marcos Alonso was punched out by Kelleher, but only as far as the Kovacic at the edge of the box. The Croatian monitored the flight of the ball, backtracking before unleashing a one-time volley into the top right corner.
Three minutes later, Pulisic atoned for his earlier miss when he pounced unto a pass from N'Golo Kante to send a controlled finish into the back of the net.
Two great saves in the second half by Mendy ensured that things remained leveled. Diogo Jota released Salah on a counter and under pressure from the Chelsea defence, the Egyptian tried to lob a quick one over Mendy, but the goalkeeper produced a fine double hand save. He was also on top to deny his compatriot, Sadio Mane minutes later.
Chelsea also got two late chances from setpieces when Mason Mount hit the target with his second attempt from a blocked free kick, before Alonso also hit his own free kick straight at Kelleher.
My Review
That game was a classic reminder of how frenetic the English Premier League can be. A game that kept both fans on the edge and for the neutrals, it was definitely a good watch.
It was a very strong move from Thomas Tuchel to drop Romelu Lukaku in the aftermath of the interview that the Belgian granted an Italian outlet, talking about his situation at the club, which didn't go down well with the Chelsea board. For me, I feel it was the right thing to do to make a statement and serve as deterrent for other players.
The game started on a very high tempo which we saw in the first few seconds with Sadio Mane getting booked for that straying arm. It was a very controversial one as many Chelsea fans would feel he shouldn't have stayed on the pitch to eventually score the opener. I also feel it was a 50-50 decision. If the red card was given, it wouldn't have been a wrong decision because he clearly saw Cesar Azpilicueta and swung his elbow towards the Spaniard. Similar thing happened with Kai Havertz in the second half, but I think his was not as hard as Mane's.
Despite Liverpool scoring two early goals and looking like running away with the game, they struggled to settle in the game and from my count it took them about almost the whole of the first half to get themselves together.
Although Chelsea were the better side side in the opening exchanges, both teams made errors at the back and we saw some sloppy passing as well. This may be not unconnected to how both teams set up to quickly catch the other unaware early on. Chelsea's better composure was evident in their ability to keep going despite the early set back and draw level before the interval.
Matteo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante were integral to Chelsea's play and the tempo of their game looked to drop when Jorginho came in, perhaps, a justification to him being dropped from the start. Kante was almost everywhere that the commentator had to ask "what is 'anywhere' is French? That word should be replaced with Kante". That was how dominating he was. According to the game stats, the Frenchman had 100% completed take ons, tackle success and long pass accuracy. He also made the most ball recoveries (14), created the most chances (3) and ultimately had an assist.
The draw meant Manchester City maintain a 10-point lead at the top of the log. Are congratulations in place for City as champions-elect?
It was the last game before the AFCON for the African contingent on the night, Salah, Mane and Mendy. These trio would definitely be missed by their teams.
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