Das a soccer game has two winners is rare enough. That it even has two goals, although it ended with 2-2 goals, sounds even more adventurous. In the top match in the English Premier League between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC, this conclusion came very close to the truth – although none of these winners were on the field. Because the teams delivered a crazy exchange of blows that impressed even in the traditionally fast-paced elite league. So all the spectators in the stadium and in front of the screens were just as much on the winning side as Manchester City.
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The front runner is now ten points ahead of Chelsea in second place and third from Liverpool, who has eleven points and one game less than City. Pep Guardiola’s selection had prevailed the day before in the other top game after falling behind with a goal in stoppage time at Arsenal. It was the tenth win in a row. Who should stop this Manchester this season is the big mystery. But on Sunday evening those involved at Stamford Bridge didn’t want to look so much at the big picture, rather they were enthusiastic about their own spectacle with the blemish without a winner on the lawn.
“It was an absolute top game,” said Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel on Sky TV. “A brilliant football game, everyone who wasn’t in the stadium missed something.” Pepijn Lijnders was blown away too. “It’s never boring with us,” said Jürgen Klopp’s assistant, who had to be in quarantine on New Year’s Day due to suspicion of a positive corona test and was absent from the duel with the German coach. “It must have been an incredible game for the fans. I have to pay a big compliment to the team. We’re here to entertain and we’re here to win. ”The conversation went really well.
“For me a red card”
Ten seconds had been played when the duel had its first upset. Chelsea captain César Azpilicueta was about to head off a high ball when Liverpool striker Sadio Mané elbowed his face. Referee Anthony Taylor only gave the yellow card. Tuchel no longer understood the football world on the sidelines. Even after the game, he hadn’t changed his mind. “I think Sadio Mané was very lucky. For me, an elbow in the face is a red card, ”he said. The video assistant did not intervene. So Liverpool was allowed to continue eleven.
And it was Mané who scored another goal a little later, but this time legally. After an unsuccessful header defense just over the sward of Trevoh Chalobah, the striker pulled away, hooked goalkeeper Édouard Mendy and scored the lead (9th minute). It went on at a breathtaking pace. Both teams gave themselves neither the time nor the space to blow through. And Mohamed Salah took the next trick. He had escaped from the German defender Antonio Rüdiger on the right and surprised Mendy with a half-high shot into the short corner (26th).
Tuchel clapped his hands over his head. Because Chelsea played a big part in the goals. “We helped a lot so that we were 2-0 down,” said the coach, speaking of “huge mistakes”. But his blues came back. Mateo Kovacic scored a dream goal when he volleyed a parried ball into the corner after a corner from the backcourt while running back (42.). When Christian Pulisic scored 2-2 just four minutes later, the stadium was a madhouse. “The goals woke up the stadium,” said Tuchel. “We almost turned the game around completely.”
The fact that the mood exploded was also due to an experiment by the Premier League, which was astonishing in times of rising corona numbers. Standing places were tested for the first time since 1994. Folding seats that allow standing were installed in five stages. At the end of the season, the results are evaluated by the Ministry of Sport. The ban came in response to the Hillsborough disaster that killed 97 people, mostly from Liverpool, in Sheffield Stadium and later in hospitals in 1989. If the technology proves itself, standing room could soon be allowed again across the board.
Despite an incidence of 1850 in London, 40,000 spectators were allowed to attend. In addition to Klopp, Roberto Firmino, Joel Matip and Alisson Becker were in isolation at Liverpool. The goalkeeper was well represented by Caoimhin Kelleher. Romelu Lukaku was absent from Chelsea. He said in an interview that he was “not happy” and hoped to play for Inter Milan again. Tuchel then deleted him from the squad. “That was a bit of a noise before the game,” said the coach. “We’ll discuss it in the club on Monday. But he’s our player, there’s always a way back. “
Liverpool, however, will have to do without their two star strikers for the time being. Mané for Senegal and Salah for Egypt play in the Africa Cup. “I only wish them the best,” said Lijnders, who defended the duo against criticism of their participation. “Everyone knows what it feels like to play for their country. You have the right to fight for every trophy. ”But hard times are waiting for Klopp and Co., not only because of the incalculable Corona situation, which has already hit the club with full force: There are three games in the next ten days the program. A breathtaking rhythm even after the spectacle at the start of the new year.
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