Chelsea deserved their victory over Liverpool and Enzo Maresca uncovered a jewel in this confidence-boosting triumph… but there was one pathetic part of their game that left me EMBARRASSED, writes OLIVER HOLT
In a match that pitted the self-styled World Champions against the Premier League champions, Chelsea snapped a three-match winless streak in the league and condemned Liverpool to their third successive defeat.
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca was sent off in the dying moments of the game for his energetic celebration of Estevao’s added time winner after he charged down the touchline, Jose Mourinho-style, and received a second yellow card.
The victory, achieved without nine injured first team players, alleviated the pressure that had begun to build on Maresca and strengthened the claim of man-of-the-match Moises Caicedo, who scored a rocket of an opening goal, to be the best holding midfielder in the world.
Chelsea’s win moved them up to sixth place in the table and knocked Liverpool off the top, as they were replaced at the summit by Arsenal.
TAKING LESSONS FROM THE SPECIAL ONE
Jose Mourinho was back at his spiritual home last week with his new club, Benfica, and his presence may have helped to concentrate Enzo Maresca’s mind on what he needs to do to establish a connection with the Chelsea supporters.
The fans have struggled to warm to Maresca but the sight of him sprinting down the touchline in added time to celebrate Estevao’s winner with the players might just help to change that.
Estevao scored deep into stoppage time to hand Chelsea a 2-1 win over champions Liverpool
Liverpool slipped to second with a third consecutive defeat across all competitions
The fact that he was sent off for his celebrations might not do him any harm with the supporters, either. Maresca was under pressure going into the Liverpool match but the manner of victory, as much as the quality of it, may have been a turning point for him.
A JEWEL UNCOVERED?
Josh Acheampong got his chance at the heart of the Chelsea defence yesterday because of an epidemic of injuries in the back-four to Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo and Wesley Fofana as well as the suspension of Trevoh Chalobah.
He seized it with both hands. He was not flawless but he played with the kind of poise and class that suggested his battlefield promotion might yet turn into a longer run in the first team.
He went off injured towards the end but not before he had stamped his influence on the game with a performance of such maturity and assurance that it belied his youth.
WORLD CHAMPIONS?
Chelsea’s victory in the Club World Cup has been used both to belittle the competition and to mock the club’s anointing of itself as World Champions. Those boasts feel a bit empty when you lose to Brighton, draw with Brentford and get outclassed by Bayern Munich in the space of a month so a win over the Premier League champions was a real boost to morale. Chelsea deserved the victory, too.
They were sharper, they were more fluent, they started the game better, they finished it better and they had the match’s best player in Caicedo. They did it without Cole Palmer, too.
Last season, many were talking about them as if they were a one-man team, overly reliant on the England playmaker but this game showed they are much better than that and in Estevao Willian, they have a forward who is already exhibiting the kind of potential that suggests he may become another shining star for Chelsea.
Enzo Maresca will feel he has unearthed a gem in talented youngster Josh Acheampong
Moises Caicedo has established himself as the first name on the teamsheet in Maresca’s side
AN ANSWER TO THE CONFUSION AT THE HEART OF THE TEAM
There is very little dispute about who is the first name on the teamsheet at Chelsea: Moises Caicedo. Caicedo is the only ever-present at Chelsea this season and even though he is said to be carrying a minor injury, he played like a super-human against Liverpool.
It wasn’t just that he scored a quite stunning opening goal for his team, it was also that he dominated midfield and won the battle with Alexis Mac Allister for control of the engine room. But there has been confusion about who Maresca wants to play alongside him. Reece James has started there this season but he played at right back on Saturday.
Malo Gusto took the spot against Liverpool and Enzo Fernandez can play there when he is not further forward. The puzzle is why Romeo Lavia has not been given more time alongside Caicedo.
He finished the game in that position yesterday and Chelsea looked stronger and more balanced and more assured while he was on the pitch. Maresca should take his lead from Thomas Tuchel and stick with what works.
BABY DIVERS
Chelsea showed real grit and courage to keep pressing for victory after an uneven start to the season but their win should not be allowed to gloss over the fact that they are among the worst in class for histrionics and simulation.
The antics of Enzo Fernandez are particularly embarrassing, given that he seems to think he is some sort of midfield hard-man.
He was at it early on Saturday, writhing and rolling on the turf after a supposed foul and then leaping up when there was no sanction for the supposed offender.
Enzo Fernandez played another pivotal role again in Chelsea’s midfield at Stamford Bridge
Pedro Neto (left) won the prize for the most overwrought reaction to a tackle as Chelsea’s players saw no issue in diving and played up to the referee during the clash in west London
Pedro Neto won the prize for the most overwrought reaction to a tackle, lying face-down in the Liverpool box, kicking his toes down into the turf again and again like a toddler having an attack of the terrible twos.
Alejandro Garnacho hit the deck like he’d been body-slammed when Dominik Szoboszlai had brushed his hand against his back. If it wasn’t so pathetic, it would be funny.
