Liverpool and Chelsea had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the Premier League match at Anfield, Saturday (28/8).
Acting as the host, Liverpool looks ambitious to beat Chelsea in this match. Relying on Jordan Henderson and the young blood of Harvey Elliot, Liverpool are very fluent in flowing the ball.
In addition, coupled with the speed of Salah and Alexander Arnold on the right side of the attack, Marcos Alonso worked very hard at the beginning of the match.
The first chance came from Jordan Hendserson, who picked up a cross from Alexander-Arnold, but his shot went wide.
Chelsea performed well in the first half and took the lead through Kai Havertz in the 22nd minute. Starting from Reece James’ corner kick, Havertz’s header nestled heavily in the left corner of Alisson Becker’s goal.
After that goal, Chelsea almost doubled their lead through Mason Mount in the 35th minute. But Mount’s shot went wide and he missed a chance to pass to Havertz who was more open.
Liverpool itself had difficulty releasing a shot on target against Chelsea. Liverpool’s turning point occurred in the first half injury time.
Starting from the chaos in the Liverpool penalty box, Mane’s kick was blocked by Reece James. Protests then occurred in the Liverpool camp and referee Anthony Taylor decided to see the replay via VAR.
After watching the replay, the referee decided a penalty for Liverpool for handball by James. Not only that, James was also shown a red card because referee Taylor thought he was deliberately blocking the ball with his hands.
Mohamed Salah stepped up as the penalty taker and managed to outwit Edouard Mendy to equalize the score to 1-1.
Superior in the number of players in the second half, Liverpool dominated the game. Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel, who fielded Thiago Silva and Mateo Kovacic in the second half, hoped to present danger on the counter-attack.
Mendy became a Chelsea star through a number of things he did. Meanwhile, Chelsea only occasionally threatened through Lukaku who had difficulty getting the ball supply.
Entering the 80th minute, Liverpool have not been able to break the Chelsea defense. Mendy and his friends managed to keep the Chelsea goal from the threat of Liverpool’s second goal.
Liverpool’s efforts to score a goal did not produce results until the match ended with the score 1-1. With this result, West Ham, still survive at the top of the Premier League standings, before the international break.