Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Five Talking Points
Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling gets into a tangle with Chelsea’s John TerryA buoyed Chelsea travelled to Merseyside for the first leg of the semifinals of the Capital One Cup, after an emphatic 5-0 win over Swansea in the Premier League. Liverpool have finally seemed to have found their footing, having been unbeaten in their last 8 games in all competitions.Leading up to the match, Didier Drogba claimed that the Cup “seemed like a small trophy, but it has big meaning”. This was evident from the strong starting lineups of both teams. Chelsea had only one change from the team that visited south Wales, with the defensive Mikel coming in for Oscar which meant Fabregas would play behind Diego Costa. Steven Gerrard came back into the starting lineup after recovering from a hamstring injury, as Brendan Rodgers opted to play Raheem Sterling up front instead of Fabio Borini.It was a proper semi-final atmosphere at Anfield, as the home crowd tried to get under the skin of the league leaders. There might be 7 teams and 17 points between the two in the league, but this is cup football and stranger things have happened.
#1 A penalty can indeed make the difference
The first half was a scrappy affair, with no team able to really assert themselves. But a Chelsea break, against the run of play in the 18th minute saw Fabregas run down the left flank, dribble past Emre Can and pass it to Eden Hazard, only for Can to clumsily bring down the Belgian for a penalty. To be fair to the German, it is a very unfamiliar role for him at centre-back, having plied most of his trade in the midfield.
Hazard nonchalantly put the ball past his countryman Simon Mignolet to score from what would be Chelsea’s only shot on target.
Liverpool were marginally the better team with some good passing movement and half chances being created, but they lacked quality in the final third. A 30-yard Gerrard shot, and a penalty claim for handball off Costa were the closest they came to scoring. There was a clear difference in tactics between the two teams, with Liverpool pressing high up whereas Chelsea were prepared to play the waiting game with Mikel and Nemanja Matic playing hardly 10 yards in front of the defence.
Chelsea were fortunate to go in 1-0 up at half time, the penalty being the difference.