By Olukayode Olumuyiwa.
Chelsea inflicted a damaging 2-1 defeat on Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, with a dramatic Estêvão goal in stoppage time proving the killer blow. The loss means Liverpool surrendered their spot at the Premier League (EPL) summit to Arsenal going into the international break, making this a fourth successive EPL defeat in London for Arne Slot’s side.
The Blues started brightly, exploiting weak midfield play from the visitors. Moisés Caicedo, a player Liverpool had been close to signing, found space outside the box and unleashed an “absolute rasper” from 25 yards that flew into the top corner, giving Chelsea the lead. Liverpool almost responded instantly when neat wing play from Cody Gakpo set up Dominik Szoboszlai, but a heroic Benoît Badiashile block denied the Hungarian a goal. Chelsea’s intense off-the-ball work frustrated the Reds, who were uncharacteristically wasteful in the final third. Milos Kerkez was notably at fault when he failed to square the ball to Mo Salah from inside the six-yard box, instead finding Marc Cucurella with his pass. Five minutes before halftime, the visitors were lucky to only be a goal down after Alejandro Garnacho‘s effort bounced off the outside of the post.
Seeing enough at halftime, Liverpool manager Arne Slot introduced Florian Wirtz to provide fresh attacking impetus. The change nearly paid off immediately when Wirtz found Salah inside the area, but the Egyptian skewed his right-footed effort wide. However, shortly after the hour mark, Liverpool finally broke through. Szoboszlai’s delivery was brought down by Alexander Isak, but before the £125m-man could shoot, Gakpo pounced to thunder the ball into the net and level the scores.
Despite losing their two starting centre-backs to injury late on, it was Chelsea who looked more likely to find a winner. Jamie Gittens, Caicedo, and Estêvão all tested Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili in the final 10 minutes. These stops proved only temporary reprieves as Chelsea’s relentless probing in stoppage time yielded the ultimate reward. Estêvão slid in at the far post to turn home Cucurella’s delivery, inflicting a stoppage-time defeat on Liverpool for the second weekend running and securing all three points for the Blues.
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