Another win for Chelsea, again at Anfield, beating Liverpool 2-1. The home team took the lead with a deflected Emre Can shot. Gary Cahill equalized shortly after and Diego Costa put them in front in the second half. But referee Anthony Taylor did a terrible job of officiating, missing out on a clear hand ball by Gary Cahill in the box and two red cards that should have been given to Ramires and Costa.
Despite looking terrible whenever using the 4-5-1 formation with Mario Balotelli up front, Brendan Rodgers didn’t sway from his tactics. It helped out in the first 10 minutes when his team actually pressed forward and was allowed plenty of freedom in the final third, resulting in two shots by Emre Can from the same spot, eventually one landing in the net. However, from that moment, Chelsea took control with pressure all over the pitch, resulting in an equalizer.
A corner kick gone bad for Liverpool, which is nothing new. Cahill was the first to a save off of Simon Mignolet. Cahill’s shot was stopped by Mignolet, but he failed to parry it quickly enough, carrying the ball a little bit into the goal, resulting in the goal line technology being used to allow the goal.
Diego Costa and Martin Skrtel were in a wrestling contest all match long, but Costa had a couple of vicious hits on the Slovak defender, not the first he has done something like that this season and gotten away with it. His diving and dirty style doesn’t stop him from being lethal in the box, scoring the game winner in the 66th minute after some brilliant work by Cesar Azpilicueta on the left wing.
Liverpool made some substitutions and mounted pressure on Chelsea for the final 30 minutes, but couldn’t really get a good, clean shot at goal that wasn’t blocked. A long range shot by Steven Gerrard was blocked by the arm of Gary Cahill, saving a goal. Anthony Taylor let Chelsea enjoy the benefit of the doubt all match long, and once again saved them from a crucial decision.
The win gives Chelsea a seven point lead on top of the table for now, while Liverpool drift away not from the championship that won’t come, but also from currently battling for one of the spots in the top four, failing to win for a third consecutive league match.
