Tonight was always going to be about Liverpool lifting the Premier League title at Anfield, 30 years on from when they were last known as the Champions of England. In the end, though, the evening turned out to be so much more than that as Jurgen Klopp’s men went to war with Chelsea in a 5-3 epic on Merseyside.
Many expected these two sides to simply go through the motions en-route to a dull draw, but after 23 minutes, Naby Keita ensured that didn’t happen after he broke the deadlock with a lovely finish. The defensive issues for the visitors were clear for all to see and Liverpool exploited that, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Gini Wijnaldum making it three before Frank Lampard’s side even knew what had hit them.
A night to remember
Olivier Giroud scrambled one in for Chelsea just before the break, but 10 minutes into the second half, it appeared as if their hopes of a comeback had been dashed as a result of Roberto Firmino heading home his first home Premier League goal of the campaign. However, just when all hope seemed lost for the top four chasers, Christian Pulisic entered the conversation.
He sparked a fantastic surge for Chelsea after setting up Tammy Abraham before soring himself, bringing the game back to 4-3. It appeared as if they were genuinely going to push forward in search of an equaliser, but in the end, they just couldn’t keep the reigning world champions out with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain making it five to confirm the three points – taking them, poetically, onto 96 for the season.
They’ll never walk alone
Jordan Henderson proceeded to lift the title up high, finally giving Liverpool fans the fairytale ending they’ve been wishing for. While the celebrations are currently ongoing in the city, as you can probably imagine, they still have one game left to play against Newcastle United.
On the other hand, Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League hopes rest on their final game of the campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers this Sunday. If they don’t pick up the win, then they run the risk of allowing Leicester and Manchester United to pass them by as the race for qualification continues.
Match Report
Liverpool: Alisson (6), Robertson (8), van Dijk (6), Gomez (6.5), Alexander-Arnold (8), Wijnaldum (7.5), Fabinho (7), Keita (7.5), Mane (7.5), Firmino (7.5), Salah (7), Jones (6), Milner (6), Oxlade-Chamberlain (7.5), Minamino (6), Origi (6)
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga (5), Azpilicueta (5.5), Zouma (6), Rudiger (6), James (7), Jorginho (6.5), Kovacic (6), Alonso (6.5), Willian (6), Mount (5.5), Giroud (7), Hudson-Odoi (7), Abraham (7), Pulisic (8), Emerson (6)
Referee: Andre Marriner
Goals: Keita, Alexander-Arnold, Wijnaldum, Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain :: Giroud, Abraham, Pulisic
Yellow Cards: Gomez
Red Cards: N/A
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