Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw by a 10-man Chelsea side who put up a resilient display in the second half after losing Reece James to a red card to defy Jurgen Klopp’s men from claiming the win.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
The hosts started the game on the front foot but were unable to find a major breakthrough in the final third of the pitch to trouble Chelsea No.1 Edouard Mendy.
Skipper Jordan Henderson missed a peach of a strike to put his side in the lead when the Liverpool midfield general skewed his volley wide after being set up by a fantastic pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Chelsea made the most of a corner-kick coming their way with Reece James’ delivery into the box being subject to a looping header from Kai Havertz which got the better of Alisson Becker to put Chelsea 1-0 up.
Jurgen Klopp was forced to make a change with Liverpool struggling on the attacking front and Diogo Jota came off the bench to replace Roberto Firminio up top on the pitch.
Liverpool were rewarded with a spot-kick in the most dramatic of events as James was adjudged to handled the ball on the line and was given the marching orders by referee Anthony Taylor following a VAR check.
Salah was ruthless in his effort to level the scoreline as the Egypt international sent Mendy the wrong way to find the back of the net following which a majority of the players were involved in an ugly confrontation.
Following the halftime break, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea were on their defensive best and denied Liverpool the chance to make the most of their numerical advantage on the field.
It ends level at Anfield.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 28, 2021
Jota came close to scoring when Salah’s delivery into the box was met by the Portuguese but his headed effort went off target as Liverpool kept on the hunt for a breakthrough which never came with the high-billed clash on Merseyside finishing in a 1-1 affair.
