Liverpool End Chelsea Home Record To Go Top Of The Premier League

Liverpool strengthened their Premier League credentials on Sunday afternoon, beating a Chelsea side that hadn’t lost at Stamford Bridge in 86 games, a Premier League record. It was the first time since Rafa Benitez took charge that a Liverpool side had taken three points from a fellow big four member away from home.

It wasn’t smooth sailing for the Reds, the first chance fell to Chelsea, an Alonso slip allowed Nicolas Anelka to push forward, but Jamie Carragher did well to deflect Deco’s shot behind for a corner. However, somewhat out of character for a side that has struggled to score in the first half this season, Liverpool took the lead after just 10 minutes.

A Dirk Kuyt flick on was only half cleared by the Chelsea defence, and the ball fell to Alonso who had a shot with his left foot. The ball took a fortunate deflection that left Peter Cech with no chance. 1-0 to Liverpool, and a dour 0-0 draw was now out of the question.

The Blues were dominating the remainder of the half, save for Gerrard’s dipping shot that Cech did well to tip over. With Deco, Kalou, and Lampard all having chances, Liverpool were perhaps fortunate to go in at halftime maintaining their lead.

Chelsea pushed forward early in the second half, and Florent Malouda had an iron clad penalty on 55 minutes as Reina brought him down in the box, but the assistant had correctly called him for offside. It was to be his last contribution, as Malouda and Kalou were taken off and replaced by Belletti and 19 year old Franco Di Santo. Ryan Babel replaced Robbie Keane just minutes later.

Liverpool almost doubled their advantage shortly after, and it was through goal scorer Alonso again from an excellent freekick. Cech had taken half a step to his right expecting the attempt to come over the wall, and could only watch on as the ball ricocheted off the post before Carvalho cleared.

Liverpool had another chance soon after, as a rare Mascherano foray forward resulted in the Argentinean being unable to find the lurking Babel, when he may have been better off taking the shot himself.

The Reds were almost left to rue their missed chances, as Di Santo cushioned a Frank Lampard cross into the path of Ashley Cole, whose volley was went wide. It was Chelsea’s best chance of the game, and the home fans had waited 72 minutes for it, but it was the closest Chelsea came.

Though Chelsea continued to look for an equaliser, the Red’s defence, led superbly by Jamie Carragher, managed to hold off for the remainder of the game. It was indicative of how well Liverpool defended, that Pepe Reina was required to make no saves of real intent.

Liverpool now move three points clear at the top of the table, and 8 points clear of defending champions Manchester United, who could only manage a draw yesterday afternoon in one of the few occasions in which you’ll find the red half of Merseyside dearly hoping the blue half can get a result.

With six points now taken from their title chasing rivals, Liverpool must now be surely considered contenders for this season’s title. Though their performances have been questionable against so called lesser opposition, they have certainly stepped up a gear against both Manchester United and Chelsea.

Whether they can maintain their recent run of results remains to be seen, but a challenge certainly seems to be on the cards for the Merseyside club at last.