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Chelsea's streak is over
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AP Photo/Sang Tan
What is this? Liverpool standing up in the face of adversity and winning at Stamford Bridge? Liverpool alone at the top? Liverpool winning without Fernando Torres?
I mean, good heavens. If Liverpool wins the league, what universal laws can we trust in anymore? Because I had the Reds failing to take the Premiership title right up there with gravity, or at least the chance that Cristiano Ronaldo ever plays a game without a full bottle of hair gel atop his scalp.
But it’s true – the streak at Stamford Bridge is over, and with a one-nil victory Liverpool becomes the first team since February 2004 to go in there and come away on top in league play (86 games unbeaten by the way– how incredible is that).
They did it with a deflected shot from Xabi Alonso in the 10th minute, and then managed to hold on the rest of the way for the victory even without El Nino up front to provide the decisive scoring touch.
It was a fun, tension-filled game to watch. Liverpool came out with some nice sequences of possession and buildup, but they rarely had the ball. Despite the rather fluky goal, for much of the first 20 minutes Chelsea floated beautiful balls from one side of the field to the other and felt out the Liverpool defense with some style.
And for the rest of the first half they pushed forward, dominating possession and forcing the issue. But the difference was that despite this pressure and control, Chelsea did not maintain the spacing that defined that opening spell. Instead they found themselves stuffed up by Liverpool, who was content to put plenty of men behind the ball and clear the threats.
The second half was more of the same. Chelsea did not have great spacing up front, and many of their opportunities came from congested headers and crosses into the box. At the same time, Liverpool played some much better football and used Steven Gerrard’s passing to produce several beautiful sequences that failed to produce another goal. And it was Liverpool who had the best opportunity of the second 45, with Alonso’s free kick spanking the right upright while a helpless Petr Cech could merely observe.
At the end of the day, Chelsea surely controlled the possession while Liverpool was resigned to counterattacking. But Chelsea could never get the spacing they desired and the Liverpool back wall held up strong throughout, allowing just an opportunity to Ashley Cole which was shanked off the side of his foot.
I read an article this week in the Guardian about how Chelsea now shows more flair and is less boring. But after that performance, I would respectfully disagree. The Blues are not dull, but they rarely produced sequences that captivated the imagination. Rather than a pretty buildup, it was more their usual pressure and energy that carried them on Sunday. And while the goal was a bit fluky, Luiz Felipe Scolari now has to come to grips with the fact that his side has only secured a single point in their two home games against Chelsea and Man United.
On the Liverpool side, it’s all smiles for now. They’re sitting atop the table even without their full-strength squad. Maybe this is the year……….maybe.
