Axel Disasi earned Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino a point against Liverpool in his first Premier League game in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool took the lead through Luis Diaz early in the game before the defender’s debut goal made it 1-1 – a scoreline that would remain the same despite the best efforts of both sides.
It was a thoroughly entertaining end-to-end start to the game, with Enzo Fernandez seeing a shot from just outside the six-yard box brilliantly blocked by Ibrahima Konate before the Reds stormed up the other end seconds later and hit the crossbar. Mohamed Salah gathered possession on the edge of the box and curled the ball over Robert Sanchez and onto the upright.
A few minutes later new Chelsea signing Nicolas Jackson came within a whisker of opening the scoring. The forward stormed in at the near post to toe-poke a low Reece James cross goalwards, however, Alisson Becker was on hand to make a smart save.
Jackson and Chelsea were made to rue that missed chance in the 18th minute when Luis Diaz made it 1-0. The Colombian was found at the back post with a stunning through ball right across the Blues box and was able to prod a shot past Sanchez in goal.
Salah thought he’d gone from provider to goalscorer on the half-hour mark, racing in behind Chelsea’s backline to latch onto a Trent Alexander-Arnold pass before dinking the ball coolly over Sanchez. However, after a quick VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside.
Chelsea found a way back into the game in the 36th minute via Disasi. The new signing showed surprising striker’s instincts in the box to react first to a Ben Chilwell header and sweep the ball past Alisson.
A minute later Chelsea were denied a second goal by a VAR offside call. Chilwell stole in behind the Liverpool backline just too quickly prior to dancing around Alisson and tapping into an empty net.
The home side continued their dominance thereafter leading into half-time, with Jackson once again spurning a chance created by a brilliant low cross from James. The 22-year-old looped his strike well over the crossbar when he really should’ve hit the target.
Liverpool started the second half brightly but it was Chelsea who would create the first notable opening in the 53rd minute. A sweeping move from right to left culminated in Fernandez playing Chilwell through on goal on the left of the box. The wing-back’s subsequent effort on goal was well saved by Alisson however.
Alisson was once again called into action in the 70th minute when Jackson raced past Ibrahima Konate and into the penalty area. The Liverpool number one once again read the forward’s strike on goal well, smothering the ball with his body.
In the dying embers of the Darwin Nunez would come within an inch of the winning goal. The new number nine cut in from the left and curled a brilliant side-footed effort narrowly wide of the right post.
READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, RUMOURS & GOSSIP
GK – Robert Sanchez – 5/10 – Almost cost his team with a very ropey pass out from his penalty area. Other than that, he had very little to do.
CB – Axel Disasi – 7/10 – Not exactly switched on in the lead-up to Liverpool’s opener, but made up for that with a goal on his Premier League debut.
CB – Thiago Silva – 6/10 – As brilliant as ever.
CB – Levi Colwill – 6/10 – A very solid outing for the youngster.
RWB – Reece James – 7/10 – Caused Liverpool a whole host of problems with jaunts into the final third.
CM – Conor Gallagher – 6/10 – Struggled to adapt to the deeper midfield role in the first half but found his feet in the second.
CM – Enzo Fernandez – 8/10 – Outstanding. The Argentine dictated the tempo of the game and was the best player on the pitch.
LWB – Ben Chilwell – 6/10 – Scored an offside ‘goal’ and caused Liverpool problems when he got forward.
RW – Raheem Sterling – 6/10 – Looked back to his best at times on Sunday, linking up well with both Jackson and James on the right flank.
ST – Nicolas Jackson – 7/10 – Lively and caused Liverpool’s backline problems with his runs in behind. Shame he left his shooting boots at home though.
LW – Carney Chukwuemeka – 5/10 – The quietest of Chelsea’s frontline.
Substitutes:
Malo Gusto – 5/10.
Mykhaylo Mudryk – 5/10.
Ian Maatsen – N/A.
Lesley Ugochukwu – N/A.
Manager – Mauricio Pochettino – 7/10 – Chelsea looked like a Pochettino team on Sunday. Being able to say that during his first game in charge against one of the better teams in the Premier League is impressive.
GK – Alisson Becker – 7/10 – Made decent saves to deny Chilwell and Jackson in the second half.
RB – Trent Alexander-Arnold – 5/10 – Still question marks over his defensive awareness as he was caught napping a few too many times on Sunday.
CB – Ibrahima Konate – 6/10 – Had his work cut out for him against Jackson.
CB – Virgil van Dijk – 6/10 – A decent performance.
LB – Andy Robertson – 5/10 – Got the run around at times by James and Sterling.
CM – Dominik Szoboszlai – 6/10 – A few nice touches and worked hard.
CM – Alexis Mac Allister – 7/10 – Liverpool’s best midfielder on the day. Will undoubtedly be one of the signings of the summer.
CM – Cody Gakpo – 4/10 – It was an odd decision to play Gakpo in midfield, and it didn’t really pay off for Klopp.
RW – Mohamed Salah – 7/10 – His stunning pass led to Luis Diaz’s opening goal.
ST – Diogo Jota – 4/10 – Didn’t get involved enough.
LW – Luis Diaz – 7/10 – Bagged the opener after making a great run in behind the Chelsea defence.
Substitutes:
Darwin Nunez – 6/10.
Curtis Jones – 5/10.
Ben Doak – N/A.
Harvey Elliott – N/A.
Manager – Jurgen Klopp – 5/10 – The big decision made by Klopp was the one to play Gakpo in midfield. The Dutch international didn’t impress in that unfamiliar role and that hurt Liverpool on the day.
Man of the match: Enzo Fernandez
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
