Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool: Reds Hand Conte His First Defeat As Blues Boss

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Liverpool claimed a 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Friday night, condemning the home side to their first defeat of the season, 90min reports.

The Blues, without their captain John Terry, came in with David Luiz, who made his second debut for the club, having been re-signed from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day.

Jurgen Klopp also had a notable absentee in his squad, as Roberto Firmino sat out with a groin injury.Dejan Lovren, though, returned to the starting lineup following his no-show last weekend due to an eye injury.

Things got off to a frantic start. Daniel Sturridge gave his former club a scare with a fiercely driven shot from the edge of the box. Thibaut Courtois seemed on top of it, but the ball rolled through his grasp and fortunately settled at his back instead of trickling into the goal.

Chelsea conceded loads of possession, and looked lost in midfield with no true passer on the ball.Antonio Conte, somewhat unsurprisingly, left Cesc Fabregas on the bench, and paid dearly for the lack of creativity 17 minutes into the game.

Philippe Coutinho would find an unmarked Lovren in the box following a free kick from the left side won off Ivanovic’s foul. The Croatian skilfully poked the ball past Courtois to give the Reds a 1-0 lead.

It was evident that Chelsea were missing the influence of their leader. Their defensive line was in shambles on the play, and there were actually four Liverpool bodies in great positions to score.

The lead was doubled in the 36th minute. Jordan Henderson popped up with a goal out of nowhere, catching Gary Cahill’s clearance to shoot from about 30 yards out, beating Courtois spectacularly.

Antonio Conte would need some team-talk at the half to get his players back into the game, heading into the half with a 2-0 deficit.

There was more intent from Chelsea in the second period, but that’s about all there was, as they were not able to convert it to goals. Conte stuck with the same players, leaving Fabregas on the bench.

However, the Blues got back in it 61 minutes in. A brilliant run from Nemanja Matic saw the Serbian drive into the box to receive the ball in space from Eden Hazard, then chip a pass to Diego Costa from the byline. The striker wasted wasted no time in scoring, getting the ball into the back of the net with a right footed close-range shot.

Costa got another chance for a goal a few moments later following Oscar’s header which was flicked down at his feet. He had a bit of work to do to get a shot off, but did so with a powerful one that, unfortunately, was hit straight at Simon Mignolet.

Conte threw three substitutions on at once six minutes from time, replacing Matic, Oscar and Willian with Fabregas, Pedro and Victor Moses.

The move was in vain, however, as the Blues weren’t able to grab the point from the jaws of defeat. Liverpool would leave the Bridge victorious, with Klopp claiming two wins out of two on Chelsea’s home ground.