Key events
Conor Bradley, who scored his first goal for Liverpool and set up two more, speaks to TNT. “It’s a very proud moment … it’s something I’ve dreamed of for a long time … I just feel like I’m in a dream … it’s unbelievable and I’m very happy … I couldn’t believe it went in … I thought, I’m going to hit it here, and it went in the bottom corner … I didn’t know what to do so I went over to the corner and done a knee-slide … it was brilliant, so it was … I just want to keep up this form and keep working hard.”
Dominik Szoboszlai, standing next to the starlet, adds: “He couldn’t wish for a better day … we are very happy to have him! … I’m also thankful for him [for the third goal] … I didn’t have to do so much … it just came on my head … probably my first header in my life! … hopefully more comes … Trent should take care of his position! … no, we need everybody … hopefully everybody goes to sleep and we are ready for Sunday.”
Jurgen Klopp delivers a series of air-punches in front of a delighted Kop, who respond with a series of roars. His Liverpool team were superb tonight: they swarmed all over Chelsea from the off, and were the better team by far. Four fine goals, and it really should have been more: for a start, Darwin Nunez hit the woodwork four times, one of those a missed penalty. Throw in a breakthrough performance by marauding right-back Conor Bradley, and that’s a fine night at the office for the Reds. Chelsea will however point to a couple of penalty shouts that didn’t go their way, one at 0-0 and the other at 3-1. Had either been awarded, things may have been very different. It’s usually Klopp who has a short conversation with Paul Tierney when they run into each other; this evening it’s Mauricio Pochettino who tells it like he sees it, straight into the long-suffering referee’s ear.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 4-1 Chelsea
Liverpool re-establish their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League!
90 min +5: Chelsea stroke it around nicely, too little, too late.
90 min +3: Diaz rakes long for Nunez, who lays off to Gakpo. A shot dribbles towards the bottom left. Petrovic claims.
90 min +2: Chelsea stroke it around the back, wishing the next four minutes of their lives away.
90 min: On TNT Sports, co-commentator Ally McCoist names Conor Bradley as his player of the match. A no-brainer. There will be six additional minutes.
89 min: Mac Allister trots back on to warm applause. “Darwin, while he apparently runs foul of some theories of Sax-ual selection, does a lot to contribute toward the evolution of Liverpool FC.” Peter Oh there, immediately on point after Grant Tennille (81 min) threatened to steal his pun-tastic crown.
87 min: Mac Allister is down, having been clattered by the new boy Casadei, and the physio is on. The Liverpool midfielder is in some distress, and when he eventually gets up, he limps slowly to the sideline.
85 min: Some pinball in the Chelsea box. Clark can’t get a shot away. In the meantime, Palmer – who has been uncharacteristically quiet tonight – is replaced by the debutant Cesare Casadei.
84 min: Elliott takes the ball off Mudryk’s toe and tees up Nunez, who is desperate for a goal. He sends a pea-roller into the arms of Petrovic. “Nunez is the first player in Premier League history to hit the woodwork four times in a game,” writes Dechlan Brennan. “Perhaps the scorer of great goals rather than a great goal scorer.”
83 min: Jones, who has been quietly excellent this evening, makes way for Clark. “Nunez might have missed a hatful of chances tonight, but he has stomped all over the Chelsea back line,” writes Will Hebbron. “If he wasn’t on the pitch, Liverpool wouldn’t score four. Simple as that.”
81 min: On the touchline, Poch emits a long sigh. Nothing’s gone his way this evening. “For those curious on how to pronounce that new Todd Boehly production, it’s AAARRRGH-lye.” Grant Tennille there, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the dental paste.
GOAL! Liverpool 4-1 Chelsea (Diaz 79)
Nunez refuses to let everything get him down. Gakpo rolls a pass down the inside-left channel to release the big man. He crosses low for Diaz, who nips in ahead of Badiashile, and slams into the bottom right!
78 min: Replays of that Van Dijk challenge on Nkunku suggest Liverpool may have got away with one there.
77 min: Nunez has now hit the frame of the goal four times tonight. Meanwhile Chelsea launch a counter, and Konate is forced to cynically check Nkunku. He goes into the book.
76 min: This is absurd. Robertson is sent into space down the left and reaches the byline. He dinks across for Nunez, who crashes a header towards the top-right … only to twang the crossbar! Then Elliott fires the rebound goalwards, but Petrovic, going the wrong way, kicks clear. How did the ball not find the net there?!
74 min: VAR checks the Nkunku penalty claim. Van Dijk made contact with his heel. For the second time this evening, the non-decision is upheld by the video assistant. Poch is not pleased.
73 min: That’s given the denizens of Anfield something to think about. Despite the scoreline, the home fans are betraying some nerves … and Chelsea have their tails up. Nkunku goes over in the box. He wants a penalty but he’s not getting one. The ball breaks to Gusto, who whistles a shot straight at Alisson.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-1 Chelsea (Nkunku 71)
Out of nothing, Chelsea grab one back! Chukwuemeka drives down the inside-left channel and slips a ball infield for Nkunku, who shimmies and shakes to see off Van Dijk and Konate, before whipping a low shot across Alisson and into the bottom right! They couldn’t, could they?
69 min: To a huge ovation, Bradley takes his leave. He’s replaced by Alexander-Arnold. Also making way: Szoboszlai, Jota and Gomez, with Elliott, Gakpo and Robertson coming on.
68 min: Nunez hasn’t stopped running despite all the disappointment, and hares down the right after a loose ball. He bowls over Badiashile. Free kick. “Watching Bradley play, it’s heartening to see that even in the world of mega dollars, academy players are still worth their salt,” writes Dechlan Brennan.
67 min: … and so that’s now a wonderful goal and two excellent assists for 20-year-old right-back Conor Bradley. The young man is having a great game. Another great game. Meanwhile Caicedo is replaced by Chukwuemeka.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Chelsea (Szoboszlai 65)
… after waiting awhile, Van Dijk sprays a diagonal pass towards Bradley on the right flank. Bradley takes a touch to steam past Badiashile and floats a forensic cross into the middle, where Szoboszlai steers a header across Petrovic and into the bottom left. What a lovely goal!
64 min: Liverpool stroke it around the back in the patient 1980s style. And then …
62 min: Mudryk tries to take on Bradley down the left. Bradley’s not having a bar of it, stepping across the winger and drawing a free kick. More cheers for the young man.
61 min: Jota probes down the middle before dinking a pass to the left for Szoboszlai, who dummies. Nunez has the ball at his feet just inside the box. He attempts to steer a curler into the top right, but that’s easy pickings for Petrovic.
59 min: Szoboszlai’s free kick isn’t up to much. It’s deflected out for a corner. Szoboszlai delivers that poorly as well. Chelsea attempt to counter through Sterling, who has a simple punt upfield to release Nkunku into the Liverpool half. He hesitates, though, and when the ball’s eventually played, Nkunku is miles offside. A huge chance to send the striker clear spurned.
58 min: Bradley is irrepressible. He steals possession 30 yards out and shifts the ball infield, perhaps thinking about a shot. He’s clipped by Caicedo. Free kick. The Kop serenade the young man with great feeling. Fair to say he’s in.
56 min: Caicedo dallies on the edge of his own box and is robbed by Jota, who wins a corner. Szoboszlai hoicks it in. Van Dijk battles for a header at the far stick but loses out. The home crowd have become a little nervous. If Chelsea score the next one, this could get interesting.
54 min: Sterling tries to release Nkunku into the Liverpool box down the left. His slide pass seems to have done the job, only for Bradley to romp across and get his body in the way, drawing a foul and nixing the attack. He’s a proper player, this young man.
53 min: Diaz has a jig in from the left before whipping a shot straight down Petrovic’s throat.
52 min: Jota and Szoboszlai combine neatly down the right. Disasi denies the latter with a sliding tackle. The resulting corner comes to nothing. “I know that Jeff Sax is probably trolling (and that I’ve taken the bait 🙂 ), but we don’t call other players, such as Mo Salah, useless when they miss penalties, do we?” wonders Andy ‘Not That One’ Flintoff, not unreasonably.
51 min: Van Dijk allows himself to be spun down the right by Gusto, who strides down the flank before curling in low towards Mudryk, free on the penalty spot. Mudryk should score, but leans back and skies his shot high into the stand. A huge chance for Chelsea, by far their biggest moment.
48 min: Nunez shoots. Blocked. Caicedo sets Sterling off on the counter with a glorious long pass down the left flank, but Bradley hares back to put a stop to the winger’s gallop. Sterling eventually floats a cross in towards nobody in particular, and Alisson claims. Another reminder to Liverpool, if the penalty miss wasn’t enough, that this game isn’t over yet.
47 min: Szoboszlai twists out of a crowded penalty box and dinks towards Nunez on the left. The flag goes up for offside. Nunez kicks the ball away in frustration and is booked for the fit of pique.
Chelsea get the second half underway. They’ve made a triple change, replacing Chilwell, Gallagher and Madueke with Gusto, Mudryk and Nkunku.
Half-time Nunez-related postbag. “I have honestly been a believer in Nunez and his development over time. But a miss like that one, in the context of a chance to put the game away when Liverpool are trying to win the Premier League – eroded a lot of the faith I had left I’m sad to say” – Colin Davenport
“Kind of surprised we didn’t hear from Jeff Sax after the Nunez penalty attempt. That’s kind of in his wheelhouse” – Joe Pearson
“Once again Nunez reminds us what an overrated player he is. Pathetic” – Jeff Sax
Half-time entertainment. Join Niall McVeigh for the closing stages of the champions’ stroll to victory and a goal-fest at New White Hart Lane. You will remember to come back here, though? Don’t forget us now.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea
The leaders have given Chelsea the runaround … but Darwin Nunez’s penalty miss will have given the visitors a little bit of hope. “Chelsea aren’t even competing here,” argues Gary Naylor. “Liverpool could get 10, because there are red cards coming too.”
45 min +4: Gallagher has the ball on the edge of the Liverpool D, and Sterling in acres to his left. For some reason he declines to play his team-mate in, and Liverpool get away with one. For a split second, what promised to be a 3-0 half-time lead looked like turning into a rather different 2-1 scoreline.
Nunez misses the penalty
45 min +2: Mac Allister holds onto the ball in the absence of the regular taker Salah. Then he hands it over to Nunez who sends Petrovic the wrong way and … batters the spot kick flush off the right-hand upright!
Penalty to Liverpool
45 min: Jones isn’t discouraged by his mistake, though, and this time bustles down the right to win a corner. It’s half cleared. However Gomez, quarterbacking from deep, pings a diagonal towards Van Dijk on the left. Van Dijk brings the ball down elegantly and crosses low for Jota, whose foot is stood on by Badiashile. Over he goes. The referee points to the spot. Jota stays down, though.
43 min: Nunez dinks a lovely reverse pass down the left to release Jones into absolute acres. He’s got options left and right, but hangs onto the ball far too long, and by the time he tries to play Nunez in on the overlap, the striker’s well offside.
42 min: Disasi becomes the fourth Chelsea player to go into the book as he takes a frustrated hack at the back of Diaz’s legs. Poch isn’t happy either, and earns himself a taking-to from the ref. Chelsea are in danger of losing their discipline.
41 min: VAR checks for a foul in the build-up, as Mac Allister tangled with Gallagher in the middle while Diaz was busy releasing Bradley on his way. But it was 50-50 and there’s nothing doing. The goal stands.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea (Bradley 39)
Conor Bradley is a proper prospect. Diaz turns into space in the centre circle. He waits, and rolls a perfectly timed and weighted pass to Bradley on the right wing. Bradley lopes at pace down the flank, drifts infield, and from the edge of the box rasps a shot across Petrovic and into the bottom left. Dare I say this: Gerrardesque?
37 min: Mac Allister shoves Gallagher in the back. Lightly, but more than enough for a free kick. Gallagher still goes down in the theatrical potato-sack style. Nevertheless, when play restarts, Paul Tierney has a quiet word with Mac Allister, which suggests his next foul may well lead to yellow.
35 min: Another Chelsea booking, as Chilwell jinks into the Liverpool box from the left. Konate hangs out a leg, then withdraws it. Chilwell goes over anyway, hoping for a penalty. All he sees is yellow.
34 min: … and slaps it straight into the wall. Both of Chelsea’s more defensive-minded midfielders are now teetering along the old disciplinary tightrope.
33 min: Fernandez comes sliding hysterically into Jones and upends him on the edge of the Chelsea D. He deservedly goes into the book for a comically late challenge. It’s Alexander-Arnold territory, but he’s on the bench. Szoboszlai fancies it.