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The Times September 29, 2005
Mourinho forced to play second fiddle again
By Oliver Kay Liverpool 0 Chelsea 0 SOMETHING about Chelsea is anathema to your typical Liverpudlian, whether it is nouveau-riche arrogance, the Cockney swagger of Frank Lampard or simply, as the Kop have been known to sneer, that they have Òno historyÓ.
After their fifth meeting in nine months and the first of two this week alone, though, accusations about a lack of dignity might be secondary to the first doubts to have emerged about ChelseaÕs supposed invincibility as Liverpool claimed what the rest of the Barclays Premiership will desperately cling to as a moral victory.
JosŽ Mourinho might claim that there is no such thing in football and prefer to point out that his team drew at the home of the European champions Ñ if indeed he is prepared to acknowledge LiverpoolÕs status as such Ñ but Chelsea were made to look ordinary last night for the first time since their nervous opening-day victory over Wigan Athletic in the Premiership.
On that occasion, a late goal from Hern‡n Crespo saved them. This time, more than tactical discipline, it was the hesitancy of an Italian referee, who ignored one clear and two reasonable penalty appeals for the home side.
Perhaps the fact that Chelsea survived, and without their goalkeeper having been seriously tested, will increase MourinhoÕs belief that he has built a special team, but it did not seem that way. The Premiership champions left the field not only to chants of Òboring, boring ChelseaÓ, to which they have grown accustomed, but, more disconcertingly, to dismissive looks from opponents who knew that they had rattled them. As a tetchy John Terry squared up to Xabi Alonso at the final whistle, it appeared to be the Liverpool midfield player looking down from the moral high ground.
Of course, the suggestion that Liverpool, under Rafael Ben’tez, have the beating of Chelsea is contradicted by the bare facts, which are that Luis Garc’aÕs Òphantom goalÓ in the European Cup semi-final second leg last May earned them their only victory in six meetings with MourinhoÕs side to date. It is hard, though, to think of anywhere the league champions would less like to be playing on Sunday than at Anfield, when they will need to improve if they are not to drop points in the Premiership for the first time this season.
The problem for Liverpool is that, for all that Ben’tez claims to know where ChelseaÕs weaknesses lie, his team last night proved unable to expose them. Steven Gerrard probed incessantly and Peter Crouch troubled Terry both in the air and on the floor, but they could not truly point to a near-miss over the 90 minutes.
Instead they were left aggrieved by the possible penalties that got away Ñ Didier DrogbaÕs lunge on Sami Hyypia in the first half, Paulo FerreiraÕs tug on Garc’a just after the interval and, above all, the handball by William Gallas that blocked Jamie CarragherÕs header in the 56th minute.
As a spectacle, it was remarkably similar to ChelseaÕs 1-0 victory at the same venue on New YearÕs Day Ñ right down to the clear handball that went unpunished in front of the Kop, with Tiago spared on that occasion Ñ the only differences being that Petr Cech was not required to get his gloves dirty this time and that, at the other end, there was no prospect of Liverpool falling victim to a smash and grab.
In an attacking sense, ChelseaÕs game plan seemed to stretch little beyond an attempt to expose Djimi TraorŽ, whom Arjen Robben and Damien Duff took turns to bamboozle with some clever movement off the ball.
ChelseaÕs wingers were not always quite so effective when the ball came to their feet, but Robben forced JosŽ Manuel Reina into the first significant save of the evening in the nineteenth minute, his touch taking him away from HyypiaÕs challenge and through the inside-right channel before a stinging shot was tipped over the crossbar by the goalkeeper.
That, though, was almost as much as was seen of Chelsea as an attacking force, the Premiership champions becoming increasingly edgy in trying to protect what they had. Lampard, showing a spiteful side that he seems to reserve for matches against Liverpool, was belatedly shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Djibril CissŽ, which prompted a nonsensical rant from a similarly belligerent Terry.
The Chelsea captain was also booked in the closing stages, in which his side were otherwise notable only for some desperate time-wasting and flitting between hitting 50-yard back-pbuttes to Cech and 60-yard up-and-unders towards the head of a nonplussed Crespo.
While Liverpool have been goal-shy of late, there were at least signs of encouragement that, with luck on their side, they could expose the first genuine chink in the armour on Sunday.
With Real Betis claiming a 1-0 victory over Anderlecht in Belgium, the group appears to revolve around three teams.
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