Mohamed Salah’s penalty and a decisive goal from Curtis Jones secured Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea, extending their winning run under new coach Arne Slot to 10 out of 11 matches.
Liverpool passed a significant test of their title ambitions, moving back to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 victory against Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday.
Salah’s successful penalty and Jones’ winning goal helped Liverpool continue their strong form under Slot. Despite a temporary equalizer from Nicolas Jackson, Chelsea suffered their first league defeat since their opening loss to Manchester City.
The victory puts Liverpool one point ahead of Manchester City and four ahead of Arsenal, who they will face at the Emirates next weekend.
Chelsea, now seven points behind in sixth place, can still take positives from a performance that pushed Liverpool to their limits. Liverpool’s only defeat under Slot came against Nottingham Forest after September’s international break.
Slot made a tactical decision to bench his South American players, Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz, and Darwin Nunez, after their long journeys following international duties.
Jones, making just his second league start of the season, proved to be an inspired choice, winning a penalty and scoring the decisive goal.
Chelsea were fortunate not to be reduced to ten men early in the match when Tosin Adarabioyo brought down Diogo Jota. Although far from goal, the incident mirrored a similar challenge that saw Arsenal’s William Saliba sent off in their match against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Once settled, Chelsea dominated possession, pushing Liverpool back, but were caught on the counter when Salah set up Jones, who was brought down by Levi Colwill. Salah converted the resulting penalty for his 10th goal against his former club.
Cody Gakpo thought he had added a second shortly after, finishing off a quick counterattack, but Salah had strayed offside in the build-up. Chelsea responded with Jackson hitting the post in their first real threat.
VAR intervention spared Chelsea from another penalty just before halftime when Jones was tackled by Robert Sanchez. Replays showed that the goalkeeper made contact with the ball first.
Chelsea leveled the game shortly after the restart when Jackson coolly finished from a Moises Caicedo through ball, marking his fifth goal in eight Premier League matches. Initially ruled offside, VAR later revealed that Ibrahima Konate had played him on.
Liverpool restored their lead just minutes later when Jones expertly converted a Salah cross.
Chelsea pressed hard for an equalizer in the final 40 minutes but struggled to create clear opportunities.
In stoppage time, Renato Vega headed over a free kick from Cole Palmer, and Christopher Nkunku was unable to capitalize on a Pedro Neto cross.
