Chelsea fight back from 2-0 down to draw with Liverpool

In a meeting between second and third placed in the Premier League, Chelsea and Liverpool played out a thrilling 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Action: The game started in a very frenetic way, with a lot of intensity, but sometimes with poor judgement by the players in some situations.

Firstly, Trent Alexander-Arnold gave the ball away after a successful pressure from Kai Havertz, the ball fell for Christian Pulisic with only the keeper to beat, Liverpool stand-in goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher made an excellent save to stop the American forward.

The minute after, it was Chelsea's turn to make a defensive mistake but this time capitalised by Liverpool. Trevor Chalobah with a miscued defensive header, saw the ball fall for Sadio Mané, who coolly rounded the keeper then fired it into the net, putting the visitors in front in the ninth minute.

The Reds doubled their lead with 26 minutes on the clock, when Mohamed Salah latched onto a through-ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold, went round Marcos Alonso and slipped a shot past Edouard Mendy at the near post.

Chelsea hit back just before half-time, with an absolute worldie from Mateo Kovacic, with a tremendous volley from the edge of the box that rattled off the post and beat Kelleher.

On the stroke of half-time, Christian Pulisic levelled the game for the Blues with a composed left-footed finish after a superb pass from N'Golo Kanté.

After an entertaining first period, the second-half was way more calm, but both teams had chances to win the game. Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy with two superb saves denied Salah and Mane while Kelleher thwarted Pulisic.

The game ended in a deserved 2-2 draw for both sides and the only winner out of this game was actually... Manchester City.

Big Picture: The result is a huge boost to Manchester City's chances of defending their Premier League title and leaves the Citizens 10 points clear of second-placed Chelsea and 11 ahead of third-placed Liverpool, although the Reds have a game in hand.

Both teams will now play the first-leg of Carabao Cup semi-final, with the Blues hosting Tottenham on Wednesday, whilst Liverpool will travel to Arsenal on Thrusday.

Memorable moment: Kovacic's goal. The Blues looked frustrated and tired at the end of the first-half, and Liverpool looked like they were in control of the game and out of no where, a goal of the season contender from Mateo Kovacic, with an amazing volley brought the hope back in Stamford Bridge and a breath of fresh air to all of his teammates.

xG: Chelsea (1.68) 2-2 (1.66) Liverpool

Stat of the Day: This is the fifth consecutive Premier League season in which Mohamed Salah has been directly involved in 25+ goals (16 goals, nine assists) - only Thierry Henry has ever had a longer such run of seasons in the competition (7 from 1999-2000 to 2005-06).

🗣 "It's never difficult to believe, it's a big gap, they [Man City] have the title to lose."

Virgil van Dijk says anything can happen and is not giving up the idea of being in the title race pic.twitter.com/hKJqLoLH7Y

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) January 2, 2022