EPL flashback: Liverpool 4-1 Chelsea

Essien (OG) 19′, Henderson 25′, Agger 28′, Shelvey 61′; Ramires 50′

Date: 8 May, 2012

With Liverpool taking on Chelsea at Anfield today evening, Brendan Rodgers will be hoping for a repeat of what transpired last time the Blues travelled to Merseyside. That being said, he won’t mind a less intimidating scoreline. In addition, much has changed at both clubs since Chelsea were hammered 4-1 in the North West of England.

Neither Rodgers nor Rafael Benitez were in charge of their respective clubs when this transpired. Liverpool’s form had tailed off since winning the League Cup under Kenny Dalglish, while Chelsea were still recovering from the disastrous stewardship of Andre Villas-Boas. Roberto di Matteo had steadied the ship and although qualifying for the Champions League was important, he had bigger fish to fry: Chelsea were scheduled to take on Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the final of the UEFA Champions League.

It was the second time in three days that the two sides had met. Chelsea had beaten Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final, with goals from Ramires and Didier Drogba giving the Blues their first piece of silverware. Andy Carroll scored for the Merseysiders.

Despite the fact that finishing in the top four was a more sure-fire way of securing Champions League football, di Matteo was instead focused on earning European glory for the team he once played for, and that was reflected in the lineup he put out for this game. First team regulars Petr Cech and Didier Drogba were excluded from the matchday squad and Juan Mata, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard were benched.

For Liverpool, Steven Gerrard had been missing for some time through injury and King Kenny had deployed Maxi Rodriguez in the staring eleven. Dirk Kuyt, who like the Argentine would leave in the summer, was on the bench and the traditional little and large striking combination of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll played up front.

At Wembley, Chelsea were compact and efficient but here they were shambolic, especially in the first half, while Liverpool were completely transformed from the stuttering, shot-shy side that so underwhelmed the national stadium for an hour.
- Phil McNulty, BBC Sport

Despite the lack of first team regulars, Chelsea still had eight internationals on the pitch. Their performance belied that presence as Liverpool stormed into the lead in the 19th minute. Suarez beat John Terry for pace down the right before cutting the ball back into the box. No Liverpool player met it, but Michael Essien,who had slid in to intercept, inadvertently took the ball past stand-in keeper Ross Turnbull.

Chelsea did have chances of their own: just before the opener, Branislav Ivanovic thudded the post with a header that on another day would have gone in. Even so, chances for the Blues were far and few in between. Terry was made to look all of his 31 years as he was repeatedly skinned by the Uruguayan, who had a hand in two Liverpool goals.

Just six minutes after the opener, Terry was once again at fault. Jordan Henderson was given too much time and space to run at goal when he should have been closed down by his countryman and the midfielder planted home a succulent shot past Turnbull to make it two.

Despite the game turning into a rout, it could have been much worse for the Blues who had the crossbar to thank for saving two attempts from Stewart Downing. So often the butt of jokes by certain sections of the Anfield crowd, the winger’s thundering drive from 20 yards was halted by the crossbar, as was – less forgivingly – his penalty which was conceded by Ivanovic.

The presence of Andy Carroll was justified in the starting eleven: Liverpool had improved markedly at the national stadium in London when he had come on. He influenced proceedings here as well, orchestrating his team’s third goal when he nodded down a header from a corner, allowing Daniel Agger to thump home number three.

Ramires’ bundled goal five minutes after the restart gave Chelsea some semblance of hope, but that would only be fleeting. Chelsea looked sloppy, inefficient and lackadaisical against a team who equalled their lowest home scoring record (24) by putting four past them on that day.

A top-four finish was obliterated from the equation for Chelsea by a rampant Liverpool team swaggering with a self-belief and adventure absent from their FA Cup final display at Wembley three days previously.
- Andy Hunter, The Guardian

Any keeper who needs to uproot Cech as starting keeper at Chelsea has to perform exceptionally well when given the opportunity to shine. Ross Turnbull’s abject performances on the night did not do him any favours. He was directly at fault for goal number four when his miscued clearance fell straight to Shelvey.

The former Charlton man needed no invitation to blast home a sweet shot from 30 yards that was destined to go in the moment it left his boot.

At the end, Liverpool showed a dominating quality that had been missing from them for large patches of the season as they extracted a modicum of revenge from the Blues. Chelsea seemed to play like their minds were elsewhere.

For all we know, they could have been: Roberto di Matteo had sacrificed this game for the greater good. In the end – at least in the short term – it would be the right one.

Lineups:

Liverpool: Reina; Johnson, Agger, Carragher, Skrtel; Maxi (Kuyt 83′ ), Henderson, Downing (Sterling 83′ ), Shelvey; Suarez, Carroll

Subs not used: Doni, Coates, Spearing, Kelly, Bellamy

Caretaker Manager: Kenny Dalglish

Chelsea: Turnbull; Ivanovic, Ferreira, Terry, Bertrand; Essien, Romeu, Ramires; Malouda, Torres, Sturridge (Lukaku 68′ )

Subs not used: Hilario, Cole, Hutchinson, Lampard, Kalou, Mata

Caretaker Manager: Roberto di Matteo