Chelsea 0 - Liverpool 1 Match Report
Seeing a Blue El Nino banner and watching Torres walk to the center spot with a Blue kit instead of Red was a strange sight to so many on Sunday afternoon. Reds fans held up banners saying, "No One is Bigger than the Club," quoting Kenny Dalglish from his press conference earlier in the week.
The Reds former frontman took to the pitch in his Chelsea debut looking to score and truly stick it to his former employers, however this would not be the case.
Chelsea's three prong attack of Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba, and Nicolas Anelka was anything short of toothless. Carlo Ancelotti looks to have one of, if not the most potent front lines in the English Premier League but that was not seen on the day.
Liverpool brought back the same formation as they had used against Stoke City during midweek to earn a 2-0 victory at Anfield. Jaime Carragher returned to bolster the three center backs with Martin Kelly and Glen Johnson returning to their roles as wing-backs to allow greater width in the Reds play.
The Reds kept Chelsea wanting all night long as a resolute Liverpool back line led by Carragher, whom Dalglish praised as a, "New Signing," in his post match press conference. The vice-captain made his presence felt when he slide to block the only true chance Torres would have to sniff at scoring against his old club.
Maxi Rodriguez missed a sitter to put the visitors in the lead during the first half when a brilliantly placed pass from Steven Gerrard came across the face of goal to the Argentine whom put it off the crossbar from about a meter out. It was one that hopefully wouldn't cause eventual heartache as it should have been 0-1 to the Reds.
Chelsea tried to attack and made moves but the majority of their shots were forced to have been taken from outside of the box, aside from Branislav Ivanovic's headers taken from corner kicks awarded to the Blues. The front three just couldnt seem to find a way to open up the defense.
It was a cagey match that seemed to just be back and forth. The first half ended with truly only Maxi's duffed attempt as the best chance on goal for either side. Torres, Drogba, and Anelka had done little to justify any of their price tags, and Kuyt alone up top had worked hard but not helped to create much either.
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