Suarez adds to Chelsea's blues | Darragh Collins
Chelsea 1 (Terry 20)Liverpool 1 (Suarez 73)Liverpool and Chelsea has always been a game which has provided excitement and controversy over the years and Sunday afternoon’s encounter was no different.Chelsea went into the game as favorites and were determined to get out of their current rut, while Liverpool were looking for a performance to kick start their season.From the off it was obvious that, by playing a 5-3-2 formation, Liverpool were attempting to contain Chelsea’s attacking strength while also being able to hit them on the break and target John Terry’s lack of pace with Suarez and Sterling teaming up up front.It was Chelsea however, who set the tempo with a good effort early on from Oscar, after Joe Allen was caught out in possession and Liverpool began to struggle. Despite that it was Liverpool who dominated possession with their short passing game however they were wasteful in possession. Chelsea on the other hand were far more productive and looked to be the better side.After 20 minutes, Chelsea scored from a corner as John Terry converted a free header. Ivanovic made the space for him as he held off Agger and Johnson but Agger should have done much better as Terry powered the ball into the net, Liverpool’s man marking scheme was becoming undone.Liverpool now had a big test on their hands. Chelsea went from strength to strength and opened up Liverpool with a fantastic spell of dominance really illustrating their class.From when the goal was scored until half time it was a rather strange game, Liverpool looked a very nice team, passing the ball around, pushing up the full backs and playing this new “Spanish Style” which we have seen a lot of teams of late adopt. Liverpool had all the possession in their own half however struggled to get past the half way mark as Mikel stood there like a barrier. It seemed every time Liverpool had possession they were wasteful and on the rare occasions when Chelsea gained possession they were looking to make something happen.Brendan Rodgers must have had some words of wisdom at half time because his team came out looking like warriors. They looked driven and determined and now started to really push Chelsea and force their way back into the game, this was particularly obvious when Suso came on for the dreadful Sahin and Liverpool pushed Sterling out on his more natural right flank. Liverpool played with a 3 man forward line and started to take the game to Chelsea.There was a real sense that the game wasn’t done and dusted and it was epitomized by a fantastic tackle from Wisdom and a break from Sterling that set up a Liverpool corner kick. A delightful ball was swung in from Suso to which met the head of Jamie Carragher at the front post as he got away from Mikel. Carragher met the ball with a wonderful flick on header to the back post where the magnificent Suarez headed it into the back of the net and Liverpool’s savior who has been responsible for 8 out of Liverpool’s 13 goals this season had equalized.With not long to go there was a real sense of intrigue that one of the teams were going to get a winner, Liverpool kicked on and looked much stronger after the goal as the tenacious Johnson and Enrique fought for everything and ran all day.Chelsea on the other hand looked frustrated that they had let their lead slide and resorted to long balls which Carragher, who now looked like a man possessed after his assist, easily dealt with.It was Liverpool who had the chances late in the game in particular Suarez who ran onto an Enrique pass but was denied by Cech.With 93 minutes gone Enrique had a wonderful chance and managed to miss a goal that he deserved after a magnificent performance; Sterling carried the ball up the wing and he squared it to Suarez, who quickly found Enrique charging up the left and cutting inside but it was Cech who stood up to make a wonderful save so late in the game.It was a wonderful game of football, both teams had their spells of dominance and both teams should have done more but 1-1 was a fair result.Liverpool will be the happier of the two side with Chelsea now dropping to third, while Liverpool who are 13th will be looking to use this result to kick start their season.
