After gaining a two-goal lead, Liverpool played more leisurely.
Chelsea, on the other hand, was a little anxious. If they lose, they will fall from the second position in the standings, and they will lose several players in a row.
After experiencing a season in which Mourinho dismissed midway and lost all four major players last season, this season the entire Chelsea team is determined to regroup and launch an attack on the championship.
Therefore, Chelsea was not intimidated by Liverpool's two consecutive counterattack goals, but instead showed more determination in the following games.
It's a pity that sometimes you can't win the game with a good attitude and strong will. Your opponent's tenacity will not be worse than yours.
With a two-goal lead in hand, Liverpool certainly did not allow the fruits of victory to slip away from their hands. Therefore, under the leadership of Willard, Liverpool's defense withstood Chelsea's crazy counterattack, and even had the energy to occasionally counterattack to challenge Chelsea's nerves again.
In the 39th minute, Chelsea received a free kick in the frontcourt. As a result, Hazard's free kick not only failed to break through Liverpool's goal, but was also directly confiscated by Mignolet, and then threw the ball to launch a quick counterattack.
If it weren't for the fact that Willard passed the ball to the center of the penalty area and Sturridge's header to Mane was not accurate and passed behind Mane, and was destroyed by defensive midfielder Kante, maybe it would have been wrong. Mane was able to form another threatening shot after receiving Sturridge's header.
Although this counterattack failed to score the final goal, it still scared Chelsea so much that they did not dare to attack so fiercely in the next few minutes for fear that Liverpool would take the opportunity to counterattack.
Until the end of the first half, Chelsea failed to score even a goal. After 2 minutes of stoppage time, referee Atkinson blew the whistle to end the first half. The two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 0-2, and Liverpool, playing away from home, took a two-goal lead.
After 15 minutes of intermission, the two sides changed sides and fought again. Chelsea, which was two goals behind, continued to attack in the second half, while Liverpool had no time to defend and counterattack.
Of course, the Red Army's defensive counterattack does not start from the backcourt, but from forwards such as Coutinho, Sturridge, and Mane. Once the frontcourt counterattack is successful, they will immediately launch a counterattack on the spot.
In the 57th minute, Chelsea's frontcourt attack was interrupted, and Wijnaldum drove the ball into the frontcourt with a big kick.
Sturridge and Chelsea center back Gary Cahill rushed towards the landing point at the same time, and then jumped together to compete for the top. The two collided hard in the air.
The ball was grabbed by Sturridge at the first point and passed to Mane who was running in from the wing. However, Mane's final inward shot failed to hit the door frame and hit the side net.
After Mane completed the shot, Sturridge, who barely followed up, couldn't hold on anymore and squatted down holding his stomach. It turned out that the fight with Gary Cahill just now caused him to be hit in the stomach and felt a little uncomfortable. Although it can't be said that the injury was serious, it was difficult to continue playing.
Therefore, Sturridge was replaced by Klopp with No. 27 Origi.
Just a few minutes after Sturridge was replaced, in the 64th minute, Chelsea, who had been tirelessly pursuing a goal, finally succeeded in scoring.
This was an assist from the goalkeeper Hazard, who broke through from the left and passed down the bottom. Diego Costa got stuck in front of the penalty area, blocked the center back Matip behind him, and then jumped He got up and fired a header like looking back at the moon, successfully lobbed the ball over the head of goalkeeper Mignolet and sent the ball into the far corner.
Mignolet was guarding the near corner. Although he blocked most of the angles, Diego Costa's ball was neither headed towards the near corner nor a low ball, but a header and lob. He couldn't even make a save. arrive.
Chelsea finally got a goal back and rewritten the score to 1-2, only one goal behind. This gave hope to everyone in the Blues. Diego Costa, who scored the goal, did not celebrate. Instead, he rushed into the goal, picked up the ball and ran to the midfield. He simply high-fived his teammates along the way to celebrate. , then ran to the center circle and placed the ball at the midpoint, signaling Liverpool to kick off quickly. They would continue to score goals and equalize the score!
After scoring the goal, Chelsea's morale soared in the next ten minutes, and their offense became sharper. In the 78th minute, they really almost scored again. Fortunately, goalkeeper Mignolet made an outstanding contribution this time, using a world-class save to deflect Hazard's arcing shot from outside the penalty area towards the far corner of the goal and over the crossbar, thus avoiding the bad luck of being equalized by Chelsea.
After escaping this disaster, Liverpool seemed to be possessed by goddess luck.
In the 81st minute, Velarde dribbled the ball from the right and made a hit-the-wall match with Mane, then made a cross from the bottom. The full-back Azpilicueta, who was returning to defense, was shaken and flew out of the baseline. Then Willard took the ball and cut inside, causing panic in the Chelsea penalty area. The goalkeeper and defenders came to block Willard's possible shot.
As a result, Willard made an inverted triangle pass and passed the ball to the top of the penalty area. Captain Henderson stepped in from the back row and kicked the ball in the direction of the goal from about 23 meters away from the goal outside the top of the penalty area.
Originally, Henderson's ball was not a big threat. Although it was very powerful and fast, the angle was not tricky enough. Goalkeeper Courtois was already ready to hold the ball. Unexpectedly, the central defender David Luiz, who had just gone to block Velarde, saw Velarde pass the ball in an inverted triangle, turned around in time to fight back, and fought hard to shovel out the moment after Henderson shot. Destroy the ball.
Unexpectedly, Luiz's flying tackle not only failed to complete the clearance, but instead caused the ball to hit the toe of his shoe and change the path of the ball, allowing the prepared Courtois to miss.
The ball bent slightly and flew into the left side of the goal as Courtois watched with surprise and helplessness.
"Huh? The ball went in!!!"
"Haha, Willard passed the ball in an inverted triangle near the baseline and assisted captain Henderson to score a long shot."
"Originally, Henderson's ball was not a big threat, but center back David Luiz's flying tackle just changed the ball slightly."
"Kurtu, who was already ready to save, did nothing in the end. He could only stand on the goal line and helplessly watch the ball fly into his own goal. He couldn't even make a save."
"We can't blame Courtois for this goal. We can only say that David Luiz was too unlucky."
"Liverpool changed the score to 3-1 and once again led Chelsea by two goals."
"And now, it is already the 81st minute of the second half. Even with injury time, there is only a little more than ten minutes until the end of the game. I am afraid it is not enough for Chelsea to score two goals in a row."
"Besides, Liverpool has a strong defensive player like Willard. It is unrealistic for Chelsea to score two goals against Liverpool in ten minutes."
"We still have to be prepared for Liverpool's counterattack."
"Therefore, this score basically means that Liverpool has sealed the victory and won this game, unless a miracle happens."
The reason why a miracle is a miracle is that it is too difficult to happen.
Although Chelsea then made three substitutions in a row, removing Matic, Oscar, and Willian, and replaced them with Moses, Fabregas, and Pedro who were more offensive, they attacked like crazy and tried to perform a miracle.
But Klopp also made corresponding adjustments subsequently, replacing Coutinho with full-back Alberto Moreno. Moreno played full-back, Milner moved forward to play midfielder, and Velarde continued Play free man.
This substitution has obviously strengthened Liverpool's defensive capabilities. With a two-goal lead and little time left, this substitution is undoubtedly very correct.
In the 87th minute, it was Alberto Moreno's flying tackle that destroyed Hazard's attempt to pass the ball out of the bottom line. On the ensuing corner kick, Villard, who had already returned to the penalty area, grabbed the first point and destroyed it.
In the 89th minute, Fabregas dribbled the ball past Milner's interception and tried to break through Wijnaldum, but was tripped to the ground by Wijnaldum.
Wijnaldum received a yellow card and Chelsea received a well-positioned free kick in the frontcourt. But the Blues failed to seize this opportunity, and Hazard's free kick eventually went over the crossbar and flew out of the baseline.
In the 90th minute, Klopp replaced Wijnaldum, who had already received a yellow card, with No. 20 Lallana and continued to defend.
In the last few minutes, Chelsea's attacks became more and more crazy, and even goalkeeper Courtois finally rushed into the penalty area to participate in a corner kick.
But Liverpool's defense has always been impregnable, giving Chelsea no chance. Even at the last minute of injury time, Velarde hit a super long shot.
Unfortunately, the ultra-long-range lob shot that was originally aimed at the goal was suddenly hit by a gust of wind in the stadium, which blew the ball slightly away, and finally hit the post and rolled out of the baseline.
If not for this cross wind, Willard would have completed a super long-range lob of over 70 meters.
However, even if the goal was not scored, it did not affect Liverpool's victory.
After 3 minutes of stoppage time, referee Atkinson blew the whistle for the end of the game. Liverpool defeated Chelsea 3-1 away and won the fifth round of the Premier League.
After this round, Liverpool has 4 wins, 1 loss, 12 points and 8 goal difference, and its ranking has risen to third place. The top two are Manchester City, which has won 5 games and has 15 points, and Manchester City, which has 4 wins and 1 draw, 13 points. of Everton.
Everton was an upset, but the league has just begun. As the league progresses, Everton may not be able to hold on.
As for Chelsea, they fell from second place to sixth place in a single ranking. Not only did they fall out of the Champions League, they even almost fell out of the Europa League.
In the post-match comments, neutral media and fans spoke highly of Liverpool's sharp offense and solid defense.
Many people predict that this season's Premier League champion will be born between Liverpool and Manchester City. It depends on who can persist to the end.
