London —
Chelsea came from 2-0 down to earn a point from a pulsating 2-2 draw with
Liverpool on Sunday that does little for either side’s hopes of catching
Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
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City’s lead now stands at 10 points from Chelsea
with Liverpool a point further back, albeit with a game in hand.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was absent along with
three key players due to positive coronavirus cases, but the Reds still raced
into a two-goal lead thanks to parting gifts from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah
before they head off to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Chelsea boss
Thomas Tuchel made the bold call to
drop record signing
Romelu Lukaku after the Belgium attacker went public with
his displeasure at being used sparingly by the German.
The Blues still had the firepower to fight back
before half-time thanks to Mateo Kovacic’s stunning strike and Christian
Pulisic.
But Chelsea have now won just one of their last five
league games, while Liverpool have taken just two points from their last three
matches to allow City to streak towards a fourth title in five seasons.
A thrilling 90
minutes that raged from end to end from the first whistle took just six seconds
to explode into life when Mane was lucky to escape with just a yellow card for
the use of an elbow on
Cesar Azpilicueta.
Liverpool were missing goalkeeper
Alisson Becker,
Joel Matip and
Roberto Firmino due to Covid infections.
However, Alisson’s understudy Caoimhin Kelleher
proved his worth by saving an early one-on-one with Pulisic.
Chelsea’s frustration at Mane’s reprieve was only
heightened when the Senegalese took advantage of
Trevoh Chalobah’s error to
round international teammate Edouard Mendy and smash home his first goal in 10
games.
Liverpool will now have to cope without their two
top goalscorers for up to month with Salah and Mane headed to Cameroon on
international duty.
The return of standing to English top-flight
football for the first time in 26 years as part of a trial contributed to a
fervent atmosphere with full crowds still permitted despite record levels of
Covid-19 infections in England.
But Salah momentarily silenced most inside Stamford
Bridge with a stunning moment of quality to double Liverpool’s lead.
The Egyptian killed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass,
eased beyond Marcos Alonso and then slotted the ball in at Mendy’s near post
for his 23rd goal of the season.
Chelsea then had
their own disciplinary reprieve when
Mason Mount was not punished by a VAR
review for kick out at Kostas Tsimikas.
That proved pivotal as the European champions hit
back with two goals in four minutes to go in level at the break.
Kovacic’s goals are few and far between, but often
spectacular and the Croatian’s volley in off the post was a goal of the season
contender.
With Liverpool still reeling, Pulisic made amends
for his earlier miss by lifting the ball over Kelleher.
Mount nearly completed the comeback in first half
stoppage time as his shot trickled wide.
The pace did not relent in the second half and only
the goalkeepers ensured there were no more goals.
Mendy was forced
to full stretch to deny
Diogo Jota,
Salah and Mane.
At the other end, Kelleher stood up well to parry
Pulisic’s powerful effort.
But a share of the spoils meant City were the real winners
of the weekend after they beat fourth-placed
Arsenal 2-1 on Saturday.
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