The Times - UK (2022-01-03)

WEEKEND

AT A

GLANCE

GOALS

U 7 from last week

25

CARDS

21

U 7 from

last week

1

Same as

last week

POSSESSION

74% Tottenham Hotspur

Highest possession

26%

Lowest possession

Watford

2 1GG Monday January 3 2022 | the times

Ings strikes first again

Danny Ings opened the scoring

for Aston Villa yesterday.

Since the start of the 2019-20

campaign, no one has scored

more Premier League openers

than his 18.

Lanzini’s capital gains

After Manuel Lanzini scored

twice against Crystal Palace on

Saturday, more than half of his

23 Premier League goals (13)

have come in London derbies.

Of all players with at least 20

goals in the competition, he

has the highest percentage

of goals scored in matches

between two London clubs.

Arteta’s young guns

Since Mikel Arteta’s first game

in charge, on Boxing Day 2019,

Arsenal have scored 36 Premier

League goals through players

aged 21 or younger — eight

more than any other team.

Of their 33 league goals this

season, 42 per cent have been

scored by 20-year-old Bukayo

Saka (6) and 21-year-old Emile

Smith Rowe (8), below.

52%

36

Most opening goals in PL

since summer 2019

18

18

Sadio Mané

Danny Ings

Raheem Sterling

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Chris Wood

16

15

15

supporters greeted Trent Alexander-

Arnold with “you’re just a sh*t Reece

James”. They then bayed angrily

within 15 seconds when Taylor

showed leniency to Mané. Contesting

Ibrahima Konaté’s high ball, Mané

brought his left elbow into

Azpilicueta’s right cheek. Trevoh

Chalobah was close by and threw his

arms up in disgust. Taylor

administered only a yellow card.

The VAR, Darren England,

concluded that Mané’s arm was not

swinging. Azpilicueta was convinced

at the time and afterwards that Mané

should have seen red. Mané has to

take care, not only because he risks

expulsion and suspension, but more

significantly he could inflict serious

damage. Mané did similar to Arsenal’s

Kieran Tierney with a wayward elbow

at Anfield two years ago.

Liverpool suffered a brief wobble

when Alexander-Arnold’s clearance

deflected to Christian Pulisic but he

was hesitant and allowed Caoimhin

Kelleher to save. Kelleher was playing

only because Alisson, like Joël Matip,

had been removed from contention

by Covid. The composed 23-year-old

Irishman acquitted himself well.

Mané promptly showed Pulisic how

to finish. When Diogo Jota lifted the

ball into the centre after nine

minutes, Chalobah again seemed

panicked by Mané. The defender

stooped to try to head the ball back to

Édouard Mendy but misjudged it, the

ball rising up for Mané, who quickly

controlled it and sped through,

rounding Mendy and stroking the ball

past Azpilicueta on the line. Chelsea’s

captain thumped the pitch in

frustration. It was such a cheap goal

to concede, and to Mané of all people.

Pep Lijnders, master of the away

dugout with Jürgen Klopp

recuperating from Covid, turned and

celebrated with his staff and subs.

56% 44%

POSSESSION

66

SHOTS ON TARGET

513

FOULS

22

Mané 9

Salah 26

Kovacic 42

Pulisic 45+1

Fast, fizzing classic

RATINGS

Chelsea (3-4-2-1): É Mendy 8 — T Chalobah 6

(Jorginho 70min), T Silva 7, A Rüdiger 8 —

C Azpilicueta 7, N Kanté 7, M Kovacic 9, M Alonso 7

— M Mount 7, C Pulisic 7 — K Havertz 5 (C Hudson-

Odoi 79). Booked Pulisic.

Liverpool (4-3-3): C Kelleher 6 — T Alexander-Arnold

7, I Konaté 7, V Van Dijk 7, K Tsimikas 7 — Fabinho 7,

J Henderson 7, J Milner 7 (N Keïta 69, 6) — S Mané 7

(C Jones 90), D Jota 7 (A Oxlade-Chamberlain 69, 6),

M Salah 8. Booked Mané, Konaté.

Referee A Taylor.

Attendance 40,072.

Chelsea Liverpool P W D L F A Pts

Man City 21 17 2 2 53 13 53

Chelsea 21 12 7 2 45 16 43

Liverpool 20 12 6 2 52 18 42

Arsenal 20 11 2 7 33 25 35

West Ham 20 10 4 6 37 27 34

Tottenham 18 10 3 5 23 20 33

Man Utd 18 9 4 5 30 26 31

Brighton 19 6 9 4 20 20 27

Wolves 18 7 4 7 13 14 25

Leicester 18 7 4 7 31 33 25

Crystal Palace 20 5 8 7 29 30 23

Brentford 19 6 5 8 23 26 23

Aston Villa 19 7 1 11 25 30 22

Southampton 19 4 9 6 20 29 21

Everton 18 5 4 9 23 32 19

Leeds 19 4 7 8 21 37 19

Watford 18 4 1 13 22 36 13

Burnley 17 1 8 8 16 27 11

Newcastle 19 1 8 10 19 42 11

Norwich 19 2 4 13 8 42 10

HOW THEY STAND

17

Times Liverpool

have gone ahead

this season; they

only won 12. City

have won all 17

games they’ve led

5

Of Chelsea’s past

six Premier

League home

games have been

draws, the other

was a 3-2 win

Chelsea fighting back from two goals

down.

With Lukaku out in the cold after

his interview with Sky Italia, in which

he flirted with his old club Inter

Milan, Chelsea demonstrated their

togetherness. Thomas Tuchel made a

point in every sense, although the

Chelsea head coach signalled there

was a way back for Lukaku. Some

contrition might help. Chelsea fans

sang Tuchel’s name loudly at the final

whistle.

The race for the title may have

faded but there was still the habitual

edge between Chelsea and Liverpool,

the usual demand for tickets with

touts lurking on corners up the

Fulham Road, and even an appetite

for half-and-half Mason Mount and

Salah scarves at £15. Nobody would

call them friendship scarves. Not

between these clubs.

The fans, many of them standing in

the rail-seating areas in the Matthew

Harding and Shed stands, exchanged

songs about Steven Gerrard. Chelsea

more West End smash than La Scala.

It ultimately helped neither side in

the title race, and the only winners

were Manchester City, but it was a

magnificent show played at a

ridiculous pace.

There is so much to debate in

football, including refereeing

standards — and Anthony Taylor

should really have dismissed Sadio

Mané for an early elbow on César

Azpilicueta — but this was also a time

to admire the football, including goals

from Mohamed Salah and Mateo

Kovacic good enough to grace any

stage. Salah rinsing Chelsea’s defence

and then Kovacic striking with a

worldie volley is why football takes

the breath away, why even with Covid

an unwelcome guest at the feast, the

show must go on.

At the centre of all this drama was

Kovacic, a blur in blue, pressing,

passing and moving as well as scoring.

It would have been an utter travesty

had the tireless Croatian finished on

the losing side, so there was justice in

Football needs games like this:

cathartic, anarchic encounters full of

chaos and beauty. Football needs

matches going ahead despite Covid

issues; it needs collisions like this

which are celebrations of technique,

togetherness and stamina. Fans

need raucous, escapist occasions

like this, and 40,072 packed out

Stamford Bridge, with the safe-

standing trial enhancing the

atmosphere even more.

And to think that Romelu Lukaku,

the moody Blue, hinted he would

rather perform in the Serie A opera

than in Premier League passion plays

such as this. In his absence, Chelsea

and Liverpool served up a classic,

HENRY

WINTER

Chief Football Writer

At Stamford Bridge

Kovacic

connects

sweetly with

a volley that

flies into the

top corner

CHRIS LEE/GETTY