Section:GDN 1N PaGe:50 Edition Date:190815 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 14/8/2019 21:59 cYanmaGentaYellowb
- The Guardian Thursday 15 Aug ust 2019
(^50) Sport
Football European Super Cup
Mané cancels out Giroud strike
on night of promise for Lampard
As the game reached its 90-minute
mark, Liverpool and Chelsea were
preparing for an additional half an
hour to determine which team would
fi nish the night with the silverware.
The fi rst-ever Super Cup to be con-
tested by two Premier League sides
had produced an even contest match
and, with extra-time looming, the only
guarantee was that the match would
fi nish past midnight local time.
For that, Chelsea could be indebted
to an incredible piece of goalkeeping
from Kepa Arrizabalaga with a quarter
of an hour to play when the Spaniard
kept out Mohamed Salah and then pro-
duced an even better stop to thwart the
follow-up eff ort from Virgil van Dijk,
turning the ball to safety via both the
crossbar and the left-hand post.
also fair to assume they were grateful
the offi cials in charge of the technol-
ogy did not alert the referee, Stephanie
Frappart, to a handball from Andreas
Christensen earlier in the match.
Christensen had his arms raised when
he blocked Sadio Mané’s overhead kick
and under the new rules – a point Uefa
emphasised in a media briefi ng on
the eve of this match – it should have
resulted in a penalty for Liverpool.
As it was, Chelsea’s confi dence did
not seem to have been knocked by the
ordeal of losing 4-0 at Manchester
United on Sunday. The truth is they
had played stylishly for long spells of
that match and, again, they seemed
intent on showing they were an accom-
plished side. Lampard had kept faith
with the same back four and this time
the team’s defenders were nothing like
as accident-prone as they had been in
Manchester.
Klopp certainly seemed to have
thought Christensen and Kurt Zouma
might be susceptible to Mané’s speed
and directness. For that reason, Mane
was moved into a central position. Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain took Mané’s
usual place on the left, with Roberto
Liverpool 1
Mané 48
Chelsea 1
Giroud 36
(score at 90min)
Yet Chelsea could also refl ect they
had their own chances to win the
game in normal time. Olivier Giroud
had given them a fi rst-half lead and
they, too, struck the woodwork. Twice,
they had goals disallowed for off side
and Liverpool, trying to win this com-
petition for the fourth time, needed
a second-half equaliser from Sadio
Mané to elongate the night.
The problem for Liverpool was rem-
iniscent of their opening game of the
Premier League season against Nor-
wich City: a strange vulnerability in
defence. Giroud was a diffi cult oppo-
nent for Joël Matip and Virgil van Dijk
but it was N’Golo Kanté’s return to the
starting line-up that really improved
Chelsea’s team. Pedro Rodriguez was
heavily involved, just as he had been
in Manchester at the weekend, and the
Spaniard had fl ashed a shot against the
crossbar even before Giroud eluded
Liverpool’s centre-backs, not for the
fi rst time, to put Chelsea in front.
Christian Pulisic, starting his fi rst
Chelsea match since his £58m acqui-
sition from Borussia Dortmund, also
made a strong impression. Pulisic
played the key pass for Giroud’s goal
and later in the fi rst half it was only
a linesman’s fl ag that deprived him a
splendid goal, having turned inside
Joe Gomez and Matip before fi ring
a low 20-yard shot into the bottom
corner.
Chelsea’s fans in the far corner
responded with the now-familiar ‘V-A-
R’ chant, hoping the decision might
somehow be overturned, though it is
Daniel Taylor
Vodafone Park
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