ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Liverpool 2 Chelsea 0: AMBITION AND desperation are intertwined for Liverpool. While they deserved the win that puts them two points behind Manchester United, who have a game in hand, Rafael Benitez's team thrived on the luck of a mistake by referee Mike Riley.
Fernando Torres broke the deadlock in the 88th minute, with the first of his goals, but Chelsea had lacked Frank Lampard for the last half-hour following a red card.
With his departure Chelsea had to make desperate blocks to keep Liverpool at bay. Lampard was sent off despite making contact with the ball before the collision with Xabi Alonso. Even if the official could argue the midfielder’s studs were raised, he had done no more than speak to Steven Gerrard for a more reckless foul on Mikel John Obi shortly before.
Alonso had been the serious offender in the incident with Lampard, but this was a jumble of a match that seemed too much for the officials. Shortly after Liverpool’s opener, Chelsea full-back Jose Bosingwa put his boot into the back of Yossi Benayoun without receiving any punishment.
It was a mostly inept occasion and the efficiency at the heart of the opener hardly belonged here. The left-back Fabio Aurelio flighted the ball to the near post and Torres’ header glanced it into the far corner of the net.
The Spain centre-forward struck again in stoppage time when a stretching challenge by Ashley Cole accidentally laid the ball into his path.
Liverpool will be heartened by a first league win since December 28th. Conversely, Chelsea have cause for introspection. Luiz Felipe Scolari said his side had been inferior all afternoon. Maybe that could have been rectified if Lampard had been around until the close, but Chelsea have extracted one point from five league meetings with United, Liverpool and Arsenal.
While there are formidable footballers on the books at Chelsea, Scolari suffers from an unbalanced squad.
Resources in attack are meagre. Nicolas Anelka hardly registered and substitute Didier Drogba does not seem fully engaged. Creativity has been restricted not only by Joe Cole’s injury but also because of the failure of Florent Malouda and Deco.
Liverpool, by comparison, were probably feeling good about themselves last night. The omission from the squad of Robbie Keane will provoke gossip, but it may have been in the Irishman’s interests to duck this. No one’s standing was raised here.
For the first time since December 2007 the club’s owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, were in the Anfield directors’ box at the same time. They ought to have known what to expect. Frequent meetings in domestic and European competition have ensured these sides are expert in thwarting one another.
By the interval there had been one save with a touch of drama to it, even if it would have been a shock if Petr Cech had not tipped Alonso’s shot over the bar after 11 minutes. While Liverpool were the more energetic, all that activity tended to show up evidence of their limitations. Chelsea were worse but, at times, the mistakes of these sides meshed. After 15 minutes John Terry crashed a clearance against Dirk Kuyt, only for the Dutchman to hit the loose ball behind when trying to send over a cross.
It was apt it took an accident to put the match on the verge of a breakthrough. In the 42nd minute Cech parried Albert Riera’s effort against Ashley Cole but the rebound ran wide of the post to spare the left-back an own-goal.
Liverpool’s desire to control was rewarded. They went about the task with an undue emphasis on raw effort. In view of the dip they have suffered in the league, it was natural they did not try to live by poise alone. The strain on them has been relieved. Benitez, too, might just enjoy some respite.
If all goes as Benitez envisioned beforehand, the victory here will open a new front in the bid to deliver the title to Anfield. That seems a ludicrous prospect when United’s defence is looking impregnable and a spasmodic attack usually supplies a goal or two.
It is the Spaniard’s calculation that Alex Ferguson’s side will go off course eventually. Liverpool would then need to capitalise.
Benitez’s side, though, still has a narrow repertoire. The club has not rid itself of the dependence on Gerrard to cure all ills. Here he was cautioned for a dive as the side became desperate. Perhaps it is hard not to count on such a person, but this Liverpool side does need to excel on a wider front. The revitalisation of Torres will be essential to any process.
Benitez will at least look ahead with more hope than Scolari. For Chelsea, five points behind United, the pursuit of the title has almost certainly come to an end. Terry and, barring a successful appeal, Lampard face suspensions.
Guardian Service
