Liverpool defeated Chelsea 4-1 at Anfield to maintain their lead atop the Premier League standings.
For the first time this season in the Premier League, Liverpool led Chelsea at halftime thanks to a solo strike from Diogo Jota and a goal from Conor Bradley, who scored his first as a senior player.
Darwin Nunez hit the post with a penalty before the half was over, one of four occasions on which he struck the woodwork – the most on record in a Premier League game.
Jurgen Klopp did not have to wait long to see his side make it three in his first Premier League game since announcing his decision to leave at the end of the season, Dominic Szoboszlai heading in midway through the second half.
Christopher Nkunku pulled one back for Mauricio Pochettino’s side and was very unlucky not to be awarded a penalty soon after but Luis Diaz ended any hope of a comeback with the fourth.
Chelsea’s best chance of having a successful season will probably come in the Carabao Cup final next month. As a result of the result, Chelsea remains in 10th place in the table. Regretfully, Liverpool, who are now leading the league by five points, will be their opponents at Wembley.
Young right-back, Conor Bradley played out of his skin in the match as he provided assists for both Jota and Szoboszlai while getting his first senior goal in the process. He has now certainly given manager Jurgen Klopp a headache when picking the starting XI, as both him and Trent Alexander-Arnold eye the starting right-back spot. Bradley was given a standing ovation when being subbed off and was subject of the chant, “There’s only one Conor Bradley”, which looks like it will stick around for a while.
Thanking Bradley for a great performance, Klopp loved the moment at Anfield and commended his team for keeping Chelsea quiet. He said, “You have to play outstandingly well to keep Chelsea calm because they are super talented,”
“But the way we started the game was really strong, proper direction, put them under pressure, the counter-pressing was top, keeping them in areas they do not want to be. The high press was really good. They could not play how they wanted in the build-up.
“The boys did extremely well, scored the goals. It is fair to say we could have scored one or two more.”
After Klopp had inserted Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson as they work their way back to health, Nkunku’s goal did provide a momentary fright.
“You bring on Trent and Robbo, the boys need rhythm. They are world-class but they need rhythm. The setup is different and they get their goal but then we controlled it again and scored a wonderful goal. What a night, what an atmosphere, what a football game.”
As for Bradley, he added: “He is an incredible boy. They told me the crowd is already singing his name, I did not hear that. That is just great. I think he is flying at the moment. Rightly so. He is working hard, a good footballer. He has helped us so much it is incredible.
“If you think back to the summer there were quite a lot of people who were saying we needed a right-back but we were positive about Conor. We could not have put this run of results together with the injuries we have had if these boys do not show up.”
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino said: “It was so clear they were much better than us,”
“We lost every single duel. Every time we recovered the ball, after the first or second touch, we lost the ball. It is well deserved for them. In the second half we changed a little bit and Mudryk had a clear chance to score, but then we conceded.
“Then we score, 3-1, and maybe a penalty on Nkunku provides us with possibility. But nothing to complain about with the decision. It is only that they were better than us. It was bad luck for us but that does not change the feeling that Liverpool was better than us.
“We need to move on. That was only one game. We performed really well in the last few months. It was tough to play. That is why Liverpool is top of the table. It was maybe a little bit too much for us.”
Liverpool travel to the Emirates next for a crucial game against Arsenal on Sunday, meanwhile Chelsea host Wolves on Sunday as well.
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