Tie Breaker
[Liverpool 4 – 1 Chelsea].
Watching this game today, it’s almost inconceivable that the last seven games between these two teams had ended in draws. Make no mistake; the scoreline is a huge, stinkin’ lie. The Reds could have easily ended with eight on a better finishing day. Instead, Nunez got himself four – or was it five? I lost count – hits against the frame of Petrovic’s goal. And even if one or two of those had gone in, the Blues’ keeper had a good game.
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It was that lopsided.
For perspective, the Canaries – a somewhat struggling Championship team, mind – did a better job in the FA Cup against Liverpool just a few days ago. The Reds were simply better in every respect, and when Chelsea randomly scored towards the end, it had about as much merit as that Maidstone 2-1 victory last week vs Ipswich in the same FA cup round. Such was Liverpool’s dominance that at long stretches it looked like a training exercise, with the blue side playing D and just passing the ball back to the red side to try again.
Much of this was due to the midfield trio of Jones, Szoboszlai, and Mac Allister, who were hellbent on demolishing anything in their path. Diogo Jota, on his part, played an increasingly familiar role as a False Firmino, Lucho did Lucho things, and Nunez… Oh, Nunez. At least he got himself an assist.
In the back, Konate keeps collecting receipts as a beast to Van Dijk’s beastmaster; the two of them really are excellent together, and with Gomez on the left, destroyed any shred of hope Chelsea had on the rare occasion they got past the midfield. For the most part, Alisson must have been bored out of his mind.
And yes, I left the best for last.
Less than a month ago, when Trent got his minor injury, many Liverpool fans didn’t even remember that we had a very promising youngster in Conor Bradley. But I suspect that even those who did remember could never have imagined the revelation that he has proven himself to be since then.
Imagine being 20, straight out of the academy, coming on to a string of games where, no matter the opponent or the competition, you keep winning man-of-the-match awards, game after game after game. I don’t need to tell you that he is the clear winner of this one, do I? Yes, Macca was excellent, and Jota was delicious, but one simply cannot ignore the brilliance of Bradley. He’s playing so confidently, with a footballing maturity so far beyond his years, and so…mesmerizingly, it can be hard to remember that he kept Trent Alexdander-Arnold out of the opening lineup today.
If that isn’t a testament to his enormous skills, let alone his potential, I don’t know what is.
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He provided a brilliant display on both sides of the pitch. He scored his first senior goal, at Anfield. It was a gorgeous strike, and you’d be excused if you thought that was enough, but young Conor also served two assists, one of which ended up in the net after a typical PlayStation sort of move from Jota. It was a performance worthy of a “10” rating, and I hope he gets a few.
And so the string of draws was broken, emphatically so. The Reds looked terrifying to play against. If they can carry this performance into the weekend, Gunners fans may just have to start singing YNWA.
