PL Match Week 2 : Chelsea vs Liverpool 0-2 Match Report

Mané brace sinks 10 man Chelsea

This was Chelsea’s first real test after having spent a warchest on revamping their entire squad. Although only Havertz and Werner got to play, this game was supposed to show the way forward for Lampard’s men, to assert their dominance within the current PL duopoly. Liverpool on the other hand, having bought Thiago, were looking to cement their place as the elite of England.

Chelsea had a set plan; they would pounce on the counter with the blistering pace of Werner and try to target the makeshift CB Fabinho. Indeed, for most of the first half, either Liverpool stayed in possession or pressed Chelsea into their own half with the odd counter.

Christensen denied Firmino a chance in the 13th minute after Salah skilfully went around Kepa and crossed to his teammate. Werner showed flashes of brilliance hitting a couple of shots, however Fabinho looked comfortable and kept him at bay. A lot of back and forth took place in the half, but neither could break each other.

It looked like everything was going to plan for Chelsea when at the tail end, Mane was brought down by Christensen after a ball over the top from Henderson, which he looked poised to reach before Kepa. Initially, Referee Paul Tierney produced a yellow, however turned it to a red after checking the VAR screen. Chelsea finished the half on a sour note, but the worst was yet to come.

Thiago Alcantara, the new face in England, got his Liverpool debut as he came on to replace Jordan Henderson at the start of the second half. Tomori had also been brought in as a defensive change to fill the place of Andreas Christensen.

There were glimpses of good early pressure from Liverpool taking advantage of the 10-man opposition. A beautiful build-up play from the front 3 of Liverpool led to a fantastic finish by the Senegalese striker, Mane with the new man, Thiago at the heart of the attack. It was 1-0 to the Reds, 5 minutes into the second half.

Minutes after the early disappointment, Kepa made a horrible mistake putting the ball directly to the determined feet of Mane who calmly slotted it past the Spaniard for his second of the evening. The defending champions were two ahead now.

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The home team had succumbed to the pressure put on by the visitors surely with no shot on goal in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

James Milner was given the captain's armband as he came on to get his first minutes of the 20/21 season. The Blues had managed to control the game a tad bit keeping the ball between themselves more often.

75 minutes into the game, Thiago conceded a penalty running into Timo Werner who was preparing to finesse a shot inside the box. Chelsea skipper, Jorginho took the all-important shot but to no avail, as Alisson kept his cool, dived to his left and stopped it. Still no respite for Chelsea, still 2-0 to Liverpool.

A couple of substitutions for Chelsea as Ross Barkley and Tammy Abraham came on to bring something new to the side who had very less time to make something happen. In the dying minutes, Mane tried to find the hat-trick goal by drilling one from outside the box but it was just deflected by the substitute, Tomori to save his team of more humiliation.

FULL TIME : CHELSEA 0 - 2 LIVERPOOL

It was a rather disappointing evening for Chelsea who just couldn't find the spark in the second half after the quick fire brace by Mane. Liverpool have started the season as they would have loved to with 6 out of 6 points in their bag.