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Liverpool beat Stamford Bridge and Chelsea 2-0 in the Premier League second round to take a 6-point lead after two games.
Sadio Mane scored both goals within minutes of the break, the second after another misstep by goalkeeper Kepa Arisabalaga.
At that time, the champions were already one more for a red card from Andreas Christensen, which put them in a leadership position.
In the closing minutes, the Blues had a chance to return the intrigue, but they missed a penalty and thus recorded their first loss of the season and lost at home to Liverpool for the seventh time in their last 13 games.
There were no surprises in the home team, while for Liverpool in the center of defense Fabinho was placed as Van Dyke’s partner. As expected, the new addition of Tiago started on the bench.
The guests started more actively and had control over the game, with Andrew Robertson on the left being especially active for the Reds. In the 12th minute Vainaldum tried his luck from about 25 meters, but inaccurate. However, most of the action took place in the middle of the field.
In the 14th minute, Kepa nearly made a mistake after Salah overtook him and looked for Firmino in the goal area, whose deflection was blocked by Christensen and Thomas saved the Londoners.
The Blues responded with a Werner attack, but Fabinho intervened perfectly at the last minute. Minutes followed, in which both teams failed to be sharp enough in front of the rival goal. Marcos Alonso shot his head, but missed.
Clearly, Chelsea’s strategy was to be more cautious and look for dangerous counterattacks. In the 33rd minute Werner fired hard, but Alison covered the corner and the ball drifted slightly.
This led to the 44th minute, which turned out to be key to the result. Henderson put Manet behind the defense and in a clear position, and Christensen fouled the opponent. Judge Paul Tierney showed the defender a yellow card, but the VAR called him to see the situation again and after a re-examination the referee expelled the Dane, which was the right decision.
Lampard took out Havertz and Klopp made his debut with Tiago, and shortly after the break it was all settled. In the 50th minute Sadio Mane after a header, completing an excellent combination between Salah and Firmino.
Just 4 minutes later, Kepa finally buried his team. Tomori returned to the goalkeeper, who, however, stopped, and when he tried to pass, Manet crossed the pass and quietly scored on an empty goal for the 2-0.
After that, the guests retained control, and the Blues apparently lost hope of being able to turn around. Kepa saved a shot from Vainaldum in the 66th minute before the hosts were awarded a penalty in the 73rd minute. Werner fell to the ground after light contact with Tiago, who tried to protect himself, but perhaps slightly hooked the German.
However, Georgino shot weakly, Alison recognized the corner and saved, and then the defense cleared. This was the Londoners’ first missed penalty in the championship after 16 in a row. The previous pass was from April 2017 against Man City.
In the 84th minute, the Liverpool goalkeeper made another important intervention, reflecting a dangerous shot on reserve Tammy Abraham and thus maintaining his first dry net of the season. In the end, Mane came close to a hat trick, but this time Kepa saved and then managed to hit Salah in the final seconds.
Chelsea 0: 2 Liverpool
0: 1 mane 50
0: 2 Mane 54
Red card: Christensen (Chelsea) 45 + 1
Chelsea: Kepa, James, Christensen, Zuma, Alonso, Kante, Georgino (79 Barkley), Kovacic (79 Abraham), Haverz (46 Tomori), Mount, Werner
Liverpool: Alison, Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Van Dyke, Robertson, Keita (64 Milner), Henderson (46 Thiago), Vainaldum, Salah, Mane, Firmino (86 Minamino)
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