Liverpool 1-1

Independent:

Jurgen Klopp gifted late point as Christian Benteke heads late leveller

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1: Hazard's wonderful opener levelled at Anfield after a late Begovic mistake in Klopp's 50th Reds match

Simon Hughes


Since knocking out Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals, Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds has emerged as the anthem of Liverpool’s run to the Europa League final.

Each time it is played on Anfield’s public address system, it informs supporters, of course, that “every little thing, gonna be alright,” and then the majority of those present join in.

Maybe their season ultimately will be. Again here, Liverpool eked out a recovery when all indications pointed towards defeat.


This time next week Liverpool might be a Champions League club once again and this match will be forgotten about.

For that to happen, though, they will have to play a lot better than they did against a Chelsea team that contained John Obi Mikel as a makeshift central defender.

Never before has the Nigerian midfielder appeared so comfortable in a Premier League fixture on Merseyside.

Everything that Liverpool have been in games on this ground over the last month, they were not here. Chelsea, decimated by absentees, were seconds away from victory.


Chelsea’s lead could have been greater had Pedro released a more convincing finish from Eden Hazard’s perfect defence splitting pass with a few minutes to go.

Guus Hiddink, the acting Chelsea manager, claimed his players had almost executed “the perfect match” and he was right.

He then conceded that Chelsea’s only failure was to kill the game off and he was right about that too.

In injury time, indeed, just as it seemed as though Jürgen Klopp might spend the next few days concerned about momentum being lost with a European final looming, Christian Benteke capitalised on Asmir Begović’s mistake from Sheyi Ojo’s cross to steal a point.


There was more riding on this for Liverpool than there was for Chelsea, who would finish in their lowest league position in 20 years regardless of the result here.

Theirs was a skeleton side, with John Terry suspended, Branislav Ivanović and Diego Costa injured and Thibaut Courtois sitting in the directors’ box because of sickness.

Liverpool’s team, meanwhile, reflected Klopp's likely selection policy in next week’s Europa League final against Sevilla, with the same XI that started against Villarreal last Thursday in the semi-final featuring again.

There was no sense that this was a full scale-drill, however. It would be tempting to describe Hazard’s opener as a thing of beauty. The identity of the architect did not come as a surprise.


Throughout, neither Emre Can nor James Milner were able to regulate the Belgian’s movement from a central position and his display was the outstanding feature of the night.

Hazard's goal came from Chelsea’s left: slaloming, skipping and accelerating past four opponents before easing a shot past Simon Mignolet from the edge of the box.

Yet at no point did a home player apply necessary pressure to prevent the run and it reinforced the idea that Liverpool were preoccupied by other challenges.


Their best opportunity of the first half came when Daniel Sturridge released Roberto Firmino with a delightful pass.

From there, the Brazilian’s first, second, third and fourth touches were good.

The fifth ruined any chance of him scoring and the moment acted as another reflection of the way Liverpool were playing.

The pattern did not change a great deal in the second half.


This was Klopp’s 50th game in charge of Liverpool. That it came just 217 days since his appointment last October meant that he had reached the landmark quicker than any Liverpool manager in history.

Having played so much, especially since Christmas, it seemed as though it might have been up to Klopp to determine whether this performance was a consequence of diverted attentions and players being afraid to commit to the high intensity levels that he usually demands in case of injury ahead of a big game, or, in fact whether Liverpool are getting tired at exactly the wrong time.

Perhaps Benteke’s intervention will stop that investigation happening. Perhaps Klopp will be happy to ride the momentum from here.


Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Touré (Ojo 86), Moreno; Milner (Allen 75), Can; Lallana (Benteke 75), Firmino, Coutinho; Sturridge. Subs not used: Bogdan, Lucas, Skrtel, Smith.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Begović; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Mikel, Rahman; Fabregas, Matić; Willian (Kenedy 57), Hazard, Pedro (Loftus-Cheek 90); Traoré (Abraham 73). Subs not used: Amelia, Pato, Palmer, Tomori.



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Guardian:

Liverpool’s Christian Benteke pegs back Chelsea after Eden Hazard’s stunner

Liverpool 1 - 1 Chelsea

Andy Hunter

A Belgium international belatedly illuminated Anfield, though it was not Christian Benteke with the injury-time equaliser that preserved Liverpool’s unbeaten home run. Eden Hazard rolled back the months with a display reminiscent of his role in Chelsea’s title victory last season but it is his country, not his club, that stands to benefit from his return to fitness and form.

Chelsea’s away support chanted for a new contract for John Terry and unveiled a banner showing the trophies won under his stewardship complete with a call to “sign him up”. Yet the performance of their mesmerising No10 showed there are other, younger assets that Stamford Bridge can ill-afford to lose this summer.

Hazard capped a fine evening with an outstanding individual goal, only his fourth in the Premier League this season, and his recovery comes just in time for Belgium’s Euro 2016 campaign. But Guus Hiddink’s team paid the price for failing to kill the contest in the second half.

“He had a difficult year,” Hiddink, Chelsea’s interim manager, said of the Belgian.


“He was one of the best last year and this year he was falling into injury, coming back nearly, falling back into injury and that made him vulnerable physically. You get frustrated. The last few weeks he has been working on a programme to be fully fit and now steadily he has got his shape and then you can see what he is able to do. He has a lot of talent, is clever and can play one-on-one. He is conceding a lot of physical contacts but he goes on and it is nice to see. He is physically and mentally fit and it is a pleasure to see those sort of players.”

For Jürgen Klopp, there was an element of fortune in Liverpool’s unbeaten run at Anfield reaching game No13. A ninth Premier League defeat beckoned in the manager’s 50th match in charge until the Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was deceived by Sheyi Ojo’s cross and pushed the ball on to the head of the waiting Benteke. The combination of the two Liverpool substitutes for the equaliser reflected well on the team’s attitude and the manager’s decision to go for broke, but Klopp will need much more from what appeared his Europa League final side when it reconvenes against Sevilla next week.

Klopp said: “For the first 15 minutes we played wonderful football without scoring and I said after the game it was the most important game of the season. We showed in the first 15 minutes what we were capable of. There was not enough faith in our own quality and so we lost patience and when you lose patience it is always difficult and we lost formation.


“We didn’t defend together but we invested a lot and that made us tired. That was the problem of the game. Maybe they could have scored the second one but Simon Mignolet did brilliantly and Kolo [Touré] and Dejan [Lovren] saved our life at this moment. We had two or three really good moments and we used one to get a draw. The last 10 minutes it was not too lucky but we could have lost today.”

Hazard opened the scoring with a quite exquisite goal. There was minimal threat to the home defence when the playmaker collected possession deep in the Liverpool half and even after exchanging passes with Cesc Fàbregas. But then he accelerated past four weak challenges with a deft touch and a drop of the shoulder and, from the edge of the penalty area, swept an outstanding finish into the far corner of Mignolet’s goal. It served as a reminder of the form and talent that brought Hazard player of the year awards last season and has been sorely missed at Stamford Bridge for the majority of this campaign.

Bertrand Traoré, the youngster Tammy Abraham and Hazard all had chances to secure the away win but, with Mignolet saving well and opportunities wasted, Liverpool always had hope of a reprieve. Benteke provided it with a close-range header before Klopp led his squad on a lap of anticipation. It is now all about Sevilla.


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Telegraph:


Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1: Brilliant Eden Hazard goal cancelled out by late Christian Benteke equaliser


Chris Bascombe


Most players are thinking of their holidays at this time of the season. Eden Hazard appears to have just ended his.

It’s taken eight months but Chelsea’s superstar winger has belatedly decided to do a fair impression of last year’s world-class player. Hazard’s first-half strike at Anfield was a work of art. It would have been a match-winning contribution but for Christian Benteke’s injury-time header. This was a great night to be a Belgium fan and there may be plenty of them scurrying to the bookmaker this morning to back Marc Wilmots’ side.

There were moments when this resembled an exhibition of Hazard taunting Liverpool midfielders and defenders.


There is no finer sight than the Belgian mesmerising markers but his goal-of-the-season contender 32 minutes into this game must have been bittersweet for his club’s fans, who have not seen it enough lately.

Hazard evaded the challenges of four Liverpool players, slalomed to the edge of the penalty area, and then picked his spot beyond Simon Mignolet.


Sections of the home support were compelled to applaud. This was the kind of goal that was prompting comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi a year ago. It was not the kind of strike you’d expect from a guy who has been unable to inspire his side beyond ninth position, although his manager, Guus Hiddink, insisted fitness rather than disinterest was the main reason for Hazard’s late arrival in this campaign.

“He’s had a difficult year. He was one of the best last year and this year he is falling into injury, coming back nearly, falling back into injury and that made him vulnerable physically and you get frustrated,” said Hiddink.


“The last few weeks, he has been working on a programme to be fully fit and now, steadily, he has got his shape and then you can see what he is able to do. He has a lot of talent, is clever, and can play one-on-one. He is conceding a lot of physical contacts but he goes on and it is nice to see.

“He is physically and mentally fit and it is a pleasure to see those sort of players.


“I don’t know [if he has been hurt by criticism] – probably. Everyone has criticism, it is how you deal with that. It can be possible he will be affected a bit but it is always good to see the reaction and showing he is capable of playing as he did,” the Dutchman added.

Liverpool could not get near enough to Hazard to trip him or  stop him weaving extravagant patterns. Emre Can was eventually cautioned for using illegal means and Kolo Touré followed after the break. But the winger – given a free role to cause mayhem wherever he fancied – was proving the difference between the sides until a late Liverpool rally stole a point.

Both clubs were given an insight into what is needed next season and what’s gone wrong domestically in this one. There was quality to go with the flaws. Hazard has not produced such a contribution enough – some may say at all until a fortnight ago – while Chelsea carelessly succumbed due to a goal-keeping error in a game that they had thought was won.


Liverpool lost composure and patience too soon once the momentum shifted against them but they have more stamina under Jürgen Klopp, who could argue his side started the game with greater quality and intensity.

This fixture is usually filled with venom but it was rather like turning up to the pantomime to discover all the villains were otherwise disposed.


John Terry got himself suspended; Diego Costa injured; Jose Mourinho was last spotted outside Old Trafford with a “how dare you not give me a job”’ placard. Chelsea fans continued their obsessional singing about Steven Gerrard, rather like they’re struggling to get over the fact he’s gone as much as The Kop.

The Chelsea fans were missing their leading man just as much, making their feelings known about the possibility that they’ve seen their skipper for the last time.

“John Terry is our captain. Sign him up,” read the banner in the Anfield Road End.

“We want you stay,” they sang.

For Liverpool this was all about keeping the rhythm and maintaining form before the trip to Basel. Initially it seemed Asmir Begovic would be in for a hectic evening.


Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana, Roberto Firmino and Dejan Lovren all came close before Chelsea had even settled. Firmino’s was the easiest chance, sent through by Daniel Sturridge he miscontrolled just as he faced Begovic.

But once Hiddink’s side adjusted the verve of Liverpool’s start was just a memory, Sturridge opting to try to silence the taunts he was receiving from Chelsea fans with too many individual efforts from distance. One attempted chip from the centre circle prompted appreciative applause but it was a sign of his and his side’s growing desperation.


Too much of Lallana, Coutinho and Firmino’s magic was 40 yards from goal. Klopp summoned Joe Allen, Sheyi Ojo and Christian Benteke from the bench in a final effort to end his home campaign with at least a point and Liverpool’s Belgian obliged with the last meaningful contribution after Begovic misjudged young Ojo’s cross.

Liverpool may yet end the season with a European trophy, while matching their worst league placing of the Premier League era. A curious contradiction.

Neither Chelsea nor Liverpool will look fondly at their domestic campaign, yet both left Anfield feeling they had seen enough to believe their next meeting will be in more familiar territory at the right end of the table.

Mail:


Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Christian Benteke scores 93rd-minute equaliser to cancel out brilliant individual goal by Eden Hazard

By DOMINIC KING

First he jinked past Adam Lallana, then skipped away from Roberto Firmino. After that, he flummoxed James Milner and wrong-footed Emre Can before applying the coup de grace.
Using Dejan Lovren as a shield, he opened up his body and unleashed a right-foot shot that zipped into the net, racing past Simon Mignolet before the goalkeeper could react. It was glorious, a moment to illuminate a humdrum game.
It was, quite simply, Eden Hazard at his brilliant best. Too little, too late, many will argue and indeed, it wasn’t enough.

‘He had a difficult year,’ said Guus Hiddink, Chelsea’s interim manager. ‘He was one of the best last year and this year he is falling into injury, coming back, falling back into injury and that made him vulnerable physically, so you get frustrated.
‘The last few weeks he has been working on a programme to be fully fit and now steadily he has got his shape and then you can see what he is able to do. He is conceding a lot of physical contacts but he goes on. He is physically and mentally fit and it is a pleasure to see those sort of players.’

Not so long ago, when the fires were lit by Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez, this was the game of the season, with rancour guaranteed on and off the pitch. Both sides loathed each other but the contempt was actually a catalyst for some absorbing, draining collisions.
This game, however, had the feel of an inconvenience, something that both sides could do without. Liverpool, for all that Jurgen Klopp protests, cannot think of anything other than a date in Basle on May 18 and Chelsea simply want this wretched campaign to end.

There was ambivalence in the away end — save for the banner making clear their disgust that John Terry is being allowed to leave this summer and songs urging the board to reconsider their decision — and it was only 30 minutes in that the Kop found its voice to liven the atmosphere.
By that point they had seen Liverpool make a bright start. Klopp, overseeing his 50th match in charge of Liverpool, showed how much he wanted a top-six finish by naming a team that won’t be far away from the one that he selects for duty in Basle next week.

Only a lunging tackle from Baba Rahman prevented Liverpool racing into a fifth-minute lead — the Ghanaian threw himself in front of a goal-bound shot from James Milner — and they came close in the next attack, when Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho both had shots saved by Asmir Begovic.
Given that Chelsea’s team looked hotchpotch — Jon Mikel Obi took the suspended Terry’s place and Bertrand Traore deputised for the hamstrung Diego Costa — it seemed likely Liverpool would find a way through but, much to Klopp’s frustration, they kept choosing the wrong ball when it mattered.

Then, though, the one-way traffic turned spectacularly when Hazard set off on a run. And what a run. Graceful and nimble, showing speed and strength, Hazard slalomed in and out of red shirts with the ball glued to his feet as if he was controlled by a computer joystick.
His finish matched the stunning work that had gone before, whipped past Simon Mignolet into the far corner. Hazard — never a soul who has struggled for self-confidence — celebrated in front of the Kop and looked very pleased with himself.

Hazard was vilified after Mourinho was sacked last December but there was no lingering discontent among the travelling fans, who gleefully sang his name and it was clear to see how much confidence he took from the moment.
Every pass found a blue shirt, every ball played in to him stuck to his dancing feet and every time he set off on one of those scurrying, speedy runs where his feet hardly seem to leave the floor, panic spread through Liverpool’s defence.

Chelsea were the better team from then. Nemanja Matic had his swagger restored; Pedro — such a disappointment in his first year — caused headaches and Cesc Fabregas oozed class.
Even when Liverpool got into threatening positions, they never convinced; Sturridge, for one, saw a glorious opportunity spurned on the hour when Begovic smothered a drive from close range.
That fired Liverpool’s belief and though they had to withstand some Hazard-inspired counters, they kept going and, deep in injury time, the reward arrived when Sheyi Ojo crossed for Benteke to power in a header at the back post.
‘As long as it is 1-0 it is the best result to draw,’ said Klopp. ‘We changed and we had the most offensive formation that we could in the last 15 minutes. It was wonderful we did not lose.’

MATCH FACTS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE BY JACK GAUGHAN FROM ANFIELD

Liverpool (4-4-1-1): Mignolet 6; Clyne 6, Toure 6 (Ojo 86), Lovren 6, Moreno 6; Can 7, Milner 6 (Benteke 78 7), Lallana 6.5 (Allen 78 6), Coutinho 6.5; Firmino 6; Sturridge 6
Subs not used: Lucas, Bogdan, Skrtel, Smith,
Booked: Can, Toure, Milner
Goal: Benteke 93

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Begovic 5.5; Azpilicueta 7, Mikel 6, Cahill 7, Baba Rahman 6; Fabregas 6.5, Matic 7; Pedro 6.5, Willian 6 (Kenedy 56 6), Hazard 8.5; Traore 6.5 (Abraham 72 6)
Subs not used: Pato,Amelia, Loftus-Cheek, Palmer, Tomori
Goal: Hazard 31
Booked: Azpilicueta
Referee: Michael Oliver

Man of the match: Hazard
Attendance: 43,210