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19 March 2024

Gerrard's cruel slip could end Liverpool's title hopes

Published
By Football Correspondent and Agencies

While Luis Suarez's 30 goals have provided much of the impetus behind Liverpool's remarkable rise to Premier League title contenders this season, captain Steven Gerrard has been the beating heart at the centre of the Merseyside revival.

Unfortunately for the 33-year-old midfielder, who has spent his entire professional career at the club, his slip in Sunday's 2-0 defeat by Chelsea may prove costly if Liverpool's 24-year wait for a title continues beyond the season.

Just before halftime at Anfield, Gerrard slipped while receiving a routine pass from Mamadou Sakho, allowing Chelsea striker Demba Ba to race in on goal to put the visitors one up.

Willian doubled the advantage late on as Liverpool failed to break down Chelsea's dogged defensive line, a defeat that ended their 11-match winning streak and took their Premier League title aspirations out of their hand.

Liverpool still lead with 80 points, but third-placed City sit three points behind with a match in hand and with a superior goal difference, meaning the 2011-12 champions can secure a second crown in three seasons if they win their last three matches.

Chelsea are second with 78 points.

Having won the Champions League, a UEFA Cup, two FA Cups and three League Cups, a league title is the one thing missing from Gerrard's list of club honours, and it would be a cruel twist if his error went some way to denying him what many would see as a fitting reward for a career of graft and loyalty.

Manager Brendan Rodgers refused to criticise his captain, saying his form was the reason they were fighting for the title.

"Steven is a boy who has picked up this club so many times," Rodgers told reporters.

"And it was just really unfortunate because he slipped at a crucial moment and it was right on half-time.

"He was doing everything he possibly could today and we hoped there would be one or two who would step up to the plate instead of him, but we couldn't quite do that today.

"There's certainly no blame because we are in the position we are in now because of him; he's been instrumental for us this season.

"It's just unfortunate that he's slipped over. It could have happened to anyone. This is a guy that is so strong mentally."

Liverpool have matches away to Crystal Palace and against Newcastle United at Anfield, and will hoping City, who beat Palace 2-0 on Sunday, will drop points to Everton, Aston Villa or West Ham.

Despite the denials of manager Jose Mourinho, Chelsea are also still in with a slim chance of winning, but Rodgers said it was important his side picked themselves up for their last two outings.

"If we can finish off the season and win these two games, we'll finish above them and maybe above Manchester City. But there's still a way to go," the Northern Irishman said.

"City will now feel they can go on and win their games. We'll just recover now; we'll focus on the next game, and continue with that positive mentality that we've had throughout the season - because that's the reason why we are where we are."

MAJOR BLOW

Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers got his big break in football as an assistant to Jose Mourinho, but he will not be taking any lessons in how to win from his former mentor.

Liverpool suffered a major blow to their hopes of winning their first title since 1990 when Chelsea won 2-0 at Anfield on Sunday, frustrating the Premier League leaders with dogged defending and punishing them on the break with goals by Demba Ba and Willian.

"It's the polar opposite to how we work," Rodgers told reporters.

"They sat really deep. There were probably two buses parked today rather than one," he said, using a phrase made famous by Mourinho nearly 10 years ago to criticise a team for defending too much.

In the same way that Chelsea held Atletico Madrid to a 0-0 draw in a Champions League semi-final first leg last week, Mourinho ordered his midfield to sit deep and double up with his defenders to deny space and time to Liverpool.

Rodgers, who was a youth-team coach at Reading before Mourinho brought him to Chelsea in 2004 as a member of his backroom staff, conceded his side struggled to create a breakthrough.

"It was 10 players, from the first minute, behind (the ball)," he said.

"It's totally the opposite of how we work and hopefully, over time, our offensive mentality and aggression will get us long-term results."

Mourinho bristled at the suggestion that his team was too negative.

"Defensive display? I am a bit confused with what the media thinks about defensive displays," Mourinho said when asked by reporters about his team's approach.

"When a team defends well, you call it a defensive display. When a team defends badly and concedes two or three goals, you don't consider it a defensive display and sometimes they are defensive displays," he said.

"The best team won..., for me, in my opinion."

Mourinho rested several senior players ahead of the second leg of the semi-final second leg against Atletico at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Brazilians Oscar and David Luiz were left out of the squad. Defender Gary Cahill and midfielder Willian, who are normally in the starting 11, only came on as second-half substitutes, as did striker Fernando Torres. Mourinho gave Tomas Kalas, a 20 year-old defender, his Premier League debut.

"The team played brilliantly. Every player was magnificent. No mistakes," Mourinho said.

But despite being just two points behind Liverpool with two games to play, the Portuguese coach continued to insist Chelsea had "no chance" of winning the title, something that would require both Liverpool and Manchester City - who have an extra game - to drop points.

"We can say we won both matches against the champions," he said, referring to Chelsea's league wins at home and away against both Liverpool and City.

Mourinho also said there was a chance that injured captain John Terry would recover from a twisted ankle in time for the Atletico game.

"He has a chance," he said. "Let's see tomorrow. After match against Atletico I said no chance. In this moment I say maybe."

MATCH REPORT

Liverpool's hopes of winning their first title in 24 years suffered a huge setback when a 2-0 home defeat by second-placed Chelsea on Sunday blew the Premier League title race wide open.

Under-strength Chelsea cut the gap at the top to two points with two games to play in a tactical triumph for their manager Jose Mourinho.

The result boosted the title aspirations of third-placed Manchester City, who took advantage of Liverpool's surprise 2-0 home defeat by Chelsea to move within striking distance of them at the top of the Premier League with a comfortable 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Three points behind the leaders, City have a home game in hand and a goal difference that is eight better than Liverpool's. They are only one point behind second-placed Chelsea, having played a game fewer.

City midfielder Yaya Toure, returning from injury, made the first goal for Edin Dzeko and scored the second before halftime.

Eleventh-placed Palace had won their previous five games to guarantee another year in the Premier League.

But Mourinho ruled Chelsea out of contention, telling Sky Sports; "the Champions will be City or Liverpool."

Whether or not that the case, Chelsea will have beaten both of their rivals at home and away.

Liverpool lost 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in December and had not been beaten since until Sunday.

Chelsea also won at City in February, having beaten them at home four months earlier.

Missing five leading players through injury and suspension, Mourinho also chose to rest others ahead of Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg at home to Atletico Madrid.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, who once worked at Chelsea under Mourinho, accused his former club of playing defensively and having "two buses parked" in front of their goal.

But his side, who had won their previous 11 games to become favourites for the title, failed to make enough chances on the day.

Philippe Coutinho wasted an early opportunity and Mamadou Sakho also missed the target but Chelsea's reserve goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer did not have a shot to save for almost an hour.

Just before the interval Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard slipped and fell as he received a square pass near the halfway line and Demba Ba ran on to finish coolly.

Schwarzer, standing in for the injured Petr Cech, did well to keep out Joe Allen's volley and pushed over a shot from Luis Suarez.

But the Uruguayan striker, favourite to be named Player of the Year by his fellow professionals later on Sunday, was generally well controlled by a solid Chelsea defence and although the London side were pushed back for much of the second half, they still counter-attacked dangerously at times.

Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had to save low down from Andre Schuerrle on one such break and in added time Fernando Torres, once a Liverpool hero, set up the Brazilian midfielder Willian to score the second goal and clinch victory.

Chelsea were left to rue a shock home defeat by Sunderland in their last game, which was the first time Mourinho had lost in 78 league matches at Stamford Bridge.

Had they won that game as expected they would now have been top of the table and would have the title in their own hands.

They still need one more point to guarantee finishing in the top three and earn automatic qualification for next season's Champions League.

Chelsea's remaining fixtures are against two relegation candidates, Norwich at home and Cardiff away.

Liverpool play away to Crystal Palace and finish at home to Newcastle, hoping that City will have dropped points.

The Manchester club's last three games are away to Everton next Saturday, then home to Aston Villa and West Ham in the final week of what has been a topsy-turvy Premier League season.

Rodgers refused to concede anything, telling Sky Sports: "Manchester City have still got the games to play. We'll fight to finish as high as we can and see where it takes us."

FULL TIME

Liverpool 0 Chelsea 2 (Ba 45", Willian 90")

Chelsea outmatched Liverpool 2-0 in their English Premier League match played at the Anfield stadium on Sunday.

Liverpool got off on a agressive note with Coutinho and Suarez missing early scoring opportunities. Liverpool looked the better team with more ball posession while Chelsea played defensively and attacked on the counter.

The Jose Mourinho, the Portuguese coach game plan worked for Chelsea as the clocked raced towards half time and both teams clawed hard to open account.

Ba was the man for the Blues who latched onto off a counter attack beating Gerrard in the 45th minute to take a well checked shot into the Liverpool net with Mignolet completely beaten in his track.

The second half strongly dominated by Liverpool proved a waste as Suarez and Gerrard missing closely.

Chelsea strongly defended their slender lead for the 45 minuted of the second half with quick substitutions which paid off in added time.

Torres and Cole were both shown the yellow card for delay in game and as the clocked raced to the full time emark Torres latches onto a counter attack and sprints along with Willian towards the box beating the entire Liverpool defence.

Torres flicks the ball to Willian who makes no mistake to slam home the ball in the 90th minute of the game.

90+4" GOAL! Torres breaks free and sprints with the ball along with Willian in the box and gently taps it to Willian who makes no mistake to nail the game with a convincing win.

90+4" YELLOW! for Torres and Cole and now the ref is compelled to do so for delaying the game in added time.

90+4" Schwarzer saves well in added time punching out Saurez volley.

89" Another 4 minutes added to the full time and Liverpool are desperate to cancel the lead.

88" Liverpool are stressed out as Chelsea are strongly blocking all attempts with Torres and Willian hitting back on the counter.

86" Allen is doing his bit with Gerrard now completely exhausted with numerous attempts at the rivals post.

85" It looks horrific to see Liverpool struggle to get past the strong Chelsea defence who seem to be defending strongly their slender lead.

84" Chelsea make substitutions bringing in Torres in place of Ba. Now this could be the golden momment for Chelsea.

82" Chelsea are holding fort well with Sterling and Sturridge unleashing lethal shots at their end.

78" Frustration level is obvious in the Liverpool camp with Suarez setting up Gerrard but he fails to squeeze past the strong defence.

77" Quick changes at this stage with Cahill coming in for Schürrle. A strategy which might work well at this point of the game.

75" Liverpool look to get over the heads of blue sea with Gerrard once again shooting wide off the mark.

73" Mikel is keeping a check on Sturridge with Suarez and Gerrard waiting to latch onto the lose ball.

71" Coutinho moves the ball to Gerrard but Willian intercepts to force a corner for Liverpool.

70" Liverpool are now all firedup and look for a draw with Gerrard and Sturridge labouring in the box.

68" Chelsea get back into the attack with Ivanovic and Willian on the ball

66" Allen releases a long floater in the box with Sturridge tapping it to Gerrard who takes a rasping shot straight into the safe hands of Schwarzer.

64" Suarez, Gerrard and Sturridge on the offensive but are checked by Cole and zpilicueta.

64" Willian makes a lightning pass to Ba in the box which is well blocked by Skrtel in front of the net.

62" Chelsea look dangerous in the counter atatck with Salah failing to get his name on the score sheet.

60" The battle is fierce with Liverpool desperate to level score with  Suarez and  Coutinho in the box.

54" Schwarzer saves a rasping voley released by Allen in front of the box much to the relief of the Chelsea bench.

56" Liverpool regroup with Sterling,Coutinho and Suarez building the attack but fail to hold their line.

54" Chelsea finally get a touch on the ball with Ivanovic moving it in the direction of Salah.

52" Danger man Suarez is well marked by Kalas and Azpilicueta who has no room to squeeze the ball past Cole.

51" Kalas intercepts Sterling in teh box who goes down to a fare tackle.

48" Suarez is on top of the ball in the box with Cole in the chase resulting in a corner which is wasted yet again by Gerrard.

47" Liverpool are now all fired up with Sterling on the bal but the alert Cole check him on the lines.

46" Lucas misreads a Suarez attempts in the box and lets go assuming a offside call.

HALF TIME

Liverpool 0 Chelsea 1 (Ba 45")

45+3" GOAL! Ba scores off a counter attack with Gerrard close on his heels beating Mignolet with a right footer into the Liverpool net.

45+3" Liverpool are now bracing for one last attempt on the post with Suarez and Gerrard making a dash at the Chelsea end.

45" A fierce battle is on with Lampard and Ba moving the ball around in the box but Lucas taps the ball to Suarez.

43" YELLOW! As the game progresses to the half time mark Sterling attempts to move the ball around but Lampard challenges him from behind as is booked by the ref.

41" Suarez misses a fine assist off the boots of Coutinho and has no option but to take a rasping shot from the edge which soars wide over the crossbar.

39" Coutinho attempts to squeeze a corner to Gerrard but the ball floats over to Azpilicueta who taps it out of play.

37" Salah's rasping volley in the box erupts in a strong appeal for handbal but the ref signals to playon.

35" Lampard and Ba regroup to counter attack from the right flank but Mignolet reads well to punch out the threat.

32" Its almost frustrating for both sides as they attempt to open account with Suarez and Ba working hard.

30" Suarez goes down after shooting wide in front of teh box with Matic protesting with ref Martin Atkinson.

29" Ba labours in the front supported with Mikel but the Liverpool defence proves strong to break.

27" Liverpool are desperate to get their goal which is their hallmark this season with Gerrard scripting moves in the midfield.

25" Sterling and Suarez are now combing well to torment the Chelsea defence. The duo are well marked though by the Cole and Azpilicueta.

25" Gerrard and Suarez on the ball attempt to take a free kick on the edge but the blues are all over and block the threat.

22" Azpilicueta does well to check Sterling on the lines leaving them content for the time with a corner kick.

20" YELLOW for Salah. Sterling is brought down from behind by Salah atempting to tap the ball in the box.

19" Ba makes a solo dash towards the box but Allen shoots across the ball to Sakho in the midfield.

14" Coutinho, Sterling and Gerrard are on top of their game but so is Cole who intercepts the threat.

11" Liverpool earn a corner taken by Suarez well flaoted with Coutinho in the centre but Sakho latches on and shoots over the post.

9" Liverpool are now atacking hard with Suarez squeezing the ball from the right flank to  Coutinho who attempts a right first timer shooting wide off the mark.

7" Gerrard the man for Liverpool to take their first corner but the soars over the heads of Suarez and Coutinho.

5" Cole gets on top of the ball with Sakho and Skrtel in the chase and volleys from the edge but Mignolet does well to punch out the threat.

3" Salah attempts to chase down Lucas but fails to matches his stride.

2" Ba chips the ball from the flnaks to Matic but lose the ball to Allen.

1" Chelsea kickoff playing from left to right make inroads into the box but are checked in time by Sterling.

The moment we have all been waiting for has arrived as the teams head to the midfield now.

There is a glimmer of hope of securing a league and Champions League double for Mourinho and the the excitement is huge at Anfield.

John Obi Mikel and Matic are rock solid defenders for Mourinho's side with Salah and Schurrle boosting pace on the flanks.

Both teams now lineup for the big game in the tunnel and the atmosphere is simply great with fans waving and cheering ahead of the kickoff.

Brendan Rodgers is content to name an unchanged lineup from the XI that won 3-2 at Norwich City last weekend.

Both teams arrive at the stadium and the what a exciting game this is going to be with the first half-an-hour of the match deciding which way the game will swing.

STARTING XI

Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson, Flanagan, Skrtel, Sakho, Gerrard, Allen, Lucas, Coutinho, Sterling, Suarez.

Subs: Jones, Toure, Agger, Cissokho, Alberto, Aspas, Sturridge.

Chelsea: Schwarzer; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Kalas, Cole, Lampard, Mikel, Matic; Salah, Ba, Schurrle.

Subs: Hilario, Ake, Cahill, Van Ginkel, Baker, Willian, Torres. 

TEAM NEWS

Brendan Rodgers' only real selection dilemma will revolve around the fitness of Daniel Sturridge.

Both Petr Cech and John Terry were injured in midweek, with Mourinho claiming that neither will play again in the league this season.

Joe Allen should keep his place in the absence of the suspended Jordan Henderson.

Ramires is suspended for four matches after a blow to Seb Larsson's face last weekend.

PROBABLE FORMATIONS

Liverpool: 4-3-3

Chelsea: 4-3-3

STAT ATTACK

Liverpool have won their last 11 matches in the Premier League.

Liverpool have been winning at both half time and full time in their last 6 home matches in the Premier League.

There have been under 2.5 goals scored in 6 of Chelsea's last 7 away games in the Premier League.

Liverpool have scored at least 2 goals in their last 3 home matches against Chelsea in all competitions.

Chelsea have only won nine of the 70 encounters at Liverpool.

Chelsea have lost two of their last three away games and all three matches have ended 1-0.

Liverpool has on record that 60 per cent of their goal are scored in the first half.

PREVIEW

Liverpool will attempt to surmount the last major obstacle barring their path to a first league title since 1990 when they welcome third-place Chelsea to Anfield on Sunday.

Victory for Brendan Rodgers's side would eliminate Chelsea from the title race and leave Liverpool needing just four points from their final two games against Crystal Palace and Newcastle United to claim the crown.

Should Liverpool win and City lose their game at Palace later on Sunday, however, the Merseyside club could secure the Premier League trophy as early as next weekend.

With Liverpool on a run of 11 straight wins and the title now in sight, these are heady days at Anfield, and Rodgers has dismissed fears that his players might suddenly succumb to the pressure of expectation.

"I think everyone is talking about pressure, but that is Manchester City or Chelsea, when you spend that sort of money and expect to win the league," said the Liverpool manager.

"I don't think there is pressure on ourselves, only from what we have within. Look at Tottenham - you spend over £100-odd million ($169 million, 121 million euros) you'd expect to be challenging for the league.

"We will do the best we possibly can. At this moment in time we have been absolutely outstanding."

Chelsea's shock 2-1 loss at home to Sunderland last weekend has left their title challenge hanging by a thread, prompting manager Jose Mourinho to shift his focus to the Champions League.

His side drew 0-0 at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their semi-final earlier this week and Mourinho created a storm afterwards by claiming that he would field a second-string team at Liverpool to preserve his players for next week's return leg.

Rodgers, however, played down the threat, saying: "Whatever team they put out will have cost more than ours and will be more experienced."

Chelsea will definitely be without injured quartet Petr Cech, John Terry, Eden Hazard and Samuel Eto'o, while Ramires starts a four-game ban for lashing out at Sebastian Larsson in the loss to Sunderland.

Cup-tied in the Champions League, Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah are both expected to feature, while Frank Lampard and John Mikel Obi, who will miss the second leg of the Atletico tie through suspension, are also in line to play.

Mourinho kept his cards close to his chest in his pre-game media conference, telling reporters: "You wait for Sunday, and Sunday you know our team.

"We are going to try to win. That's the simple and objective answer. Nobody goes to a game to lose."

For Liverpool, Jordan Henderson will not feature as he serves the second game of a three-match ban, while on-loan Chelsea winger Victor Moses is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Rodgers's biggest selection issue concerns striker Daniel Sturridge, who sat out last weekend's 3-2 win at Norwich City with a hamstring injury, but he is expected to be fit to start on Sunday.

"We'll give it another 24 hours," Rodgers said on Friday. "He's working hard with the medical team, so we shall see. If he's not fit, we've coped before; we've managed before without a number of players."

Liverpool have scored 38 goals during their 11-game winning streak and need only four more to bring up a century in the league this season.

Their last three victories have all been by a one-goal margin, however, and last weekend's success at Norwich was a nail-biting affair.

Another victory will equal Liverpool's top-flight record for successive wins of 12, which was set in October 1990.

Chelsea's domestic form has deserted them at just the wrong time, with three defeats in their last six league games meaning they have taken only nine points from a possible 18.

They are the last side to have beaten Liverpool though - 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on December 29 - and can close to within two points of the leaders if they prevail.