Liverpool (27-04-2014)

Liverpool 0 – 2 Chelsea (Premier League), 27^th April 2014

Match ticket = £49

Train = £34

Programme = £3

Tea x2 = £3-55

Bus to Anfield = £4

Total = £93-55

It is fair to say that Mourinho had us all fooled, myself included. In the build-up to this game, he’d created a myth that his team were weak, beset by injuries and struggling with a fixture pile-up (er, just two matches in the UCL semi-final). On the way to Liverpool, I felt that Liverpool could finally nail the title with a win today, whereas previously I’d believed Chelsea to be an unsurpassable obstacle. It was certainly a tough run-in for Liverpool, but they could go into this one full of confidence after victories over City and a key away win at Carrow Road.

There was a sense of anticipation and tension around Anfield as kick-off grew closer. From our spot in the Kop end of the Main Stand, we were in the thick of a wired atmosphere. Mrs Groundhopper assured me that this was very different to the atmosphere against City, which had resembled the UCL semi-final from 2005. The tension bordered on anxiety as the game kicked off.

Liverpool, staying true to their principles, attacked without remorse for the first half an hour, only to meet a stubborn Chelsea defence which was not giving anything away. Every time Suarez received the ball, he was surrounded by 3-4 blue shirts, and every time Liverpool flew down the wings, Chelsea managed to get something on it. They were deliberately breaking up play with fouls, lingered-over goal kicks and hardly subtle time-wasting. This was what we should have expected from them, but the frustration of the home crowd grew as half-time approached. Chelsea clearly had no intention of playing football or allowing Liverpool to do so. Then came the moment of anguish and despair as a unfortunate slip from Gerrard put Demba Ba clean through on goal, right in front of us. This couldn’t have been a worse time or a worse way to concede a goal, against Chelsea of all teams.

We wondered what Brendan Rodgers’ half-time strategy would be, now that Liverpool had to score, and couldn’t settle for a point. Disappointingly nothing changed after half-time. Liverpool attacked in the same way, and Chelsea nullified pretty much everything that was thrown at them. They rode their luck at times, but Mourinho’s men were effective in what they were doing. I can barely recall a single clear-cut chance for Liverpool as Chelsea seemed to grow in confidence. As Liverpool launched one final desperate attack, Torres broke away onto the halfway line, and, with all the Liverpool players out of the picture, ran into the box before squaring to Willian for an easy goal to make it 2-0. This was perhaps the moment that title hopes genuinely died. Chelsea’s blue tank had come to Anfield, weathered a battering and smashed and grabbed a key win.