Football news - Ross Barkley seals second defeat in a row for Liverpool
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Updated 03/03/2020 at 22:38 GMT
FA Cup Fifth Round, Stamford Bridge - Chelsea 2 (Willian 13', Barkley 64')
Ross Barkley of Chelsea celebrates after scoring his sides second goal during the FA Cup Fifth Round match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on March 03, 2020 in London, England.
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Chelsea moved into the FA Cup quarter-finals – and eased the pressure on their manager Frank Lampard - with a rousing victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
Willian and Ross Barkley scored a goal in each half to settle an entertaining match. But it was the Scottish teenager Billy Gilmour, starting in midfield, who stole the show with an immaculate performance.
Liverpool made an ominous start, and looked in the mood to make Chelsea pay for their 3-0 defeat at Watford in the Premier League on Saturday. But Chelsea started to feel their way into the game and took the lead in the 13th minute when Willian’s shot went straight through the keeper Adrian.
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Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Willian celebrates scoring the opening goal during the English FA Cup fifth round football match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in London on March 3, 2020.
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The other recalled goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, made a dramatic triple save to keep Chelsea in front. There were chances galore in the first 20 minutes, but the match started to settle down after that.
If the first half was even, then Chelsea were much the better side after the break as they sat deep and picked Liverpool off on the counter-attack.
That approach led to Ross Barkley’s blistering second goal and a great chance for Pedro soon after. Mason Mount and Olivier Giroud also hit the crossbar.
It was an impressive performance from Chelsea, who had to overcome injures to Mateo Kovacic in the first half and Willian in the second. By the end, Liverpool were well beaten.
TALKING POINT
Liverpool's collapse in form
For much of the season it looked like Liverpool could go unbeaten in the Premier League and do the Treble. Both of those opportunities have disappeared in the last four days, and they look short on confidence for the first time in over two years. It’s only a blip, and the 2019-20 will still go down in history as one of Liverpool’s greatest. But Anfield will be a nervous place before they take on Atletico Madrid in the Champions League next week.
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Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool during the FA Cup Fifth Round match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on March 03, 2020 in London, England
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MAN OF THE MATCH
Billy Gilmour – Young players are supposed to be raw and exciting. The beauty of Gilmour’s performance was its low-key maturity: he picked the right pass every time, was always available and also showed superb defensive awareness. Everything was done with a touch of class. It was the performance of a veteran.
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Billy Gilmour of Chelsea and Takumi Minamino of Liverpool in action during the FA Cup Fifth Round match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on March 03, 2020 in London, England
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PLAYER RATINGS
Chelsea: Kepa 8, Azpilicueta 7, Rudiger 7, Zouma 7, Alonso 7, Gilmour 9, Kovacic 7, Barkley 7, Willian 7, Giroud 7, Pedro 7. Subs: Mount 7, Jorginho 6, James 6.
Liverpool: Adrian 6, Williams 7, Gomez 6, van Dijk 6, Robertson 8, Lallana 7, Fabinho 6, Jones 7, Minamino 7, Origi 5, Mane 7. Subs: Firmino 6, Milner 6, Salah 6.
KEY MOMENTS
13’ GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (Willian) Adrian has thrown one in! Moments after making a quite brilliant save from Willian, he was beaten by the same man. The chance came when Fabinho lost the ball on the edge of the D, poking it straight to Willian. He got the ball out of his feet and hit a fierce shot straight at Adrian, who fumbled it into the net.. Although the ball moved slightly, it should have been a routine save for Adrian.
20’ Kepa makes a spectacular triple save! Welcome back to the first XI. There was an almighty scramble in the Chelsea area, with Kepa making point-blank stops from Mane, Origi and Jones in the space of a few seconds.
64’ GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool (Barkley) Chelsea double their lead with a brilliant solo goal from Ross Barkley! He picked up a loose ball just inside the Chelsea half and ran straight at the heart of the Liverpool defence. They kept backpedalling, so he kept running until he reached the edge of the D. It looked like he should have played a through pass to the unmarked Pedro, but instead he swished a fierce drive that whistled past the diving Adrian.
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Ross Barkley of Chelsea celebrates after scoring his sides second goal during the FA Cup Fifth Round match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on March 03, 2020 in London, England. (
Image credit: Getty Images
67’ Pedro misses a great chance! That should have been 3-0. Chelsea broke from a Liverpool corner, with Pedro nicking the ball off the last defender Gomez and charging over the halfway line. By the time he reached the edge of the Liverpool area he was absolutely knackered, however, and his fairly tame shot was kicked away by Adrian.
74’ Giroud hits the bar! He ran onto a long pass from Azpilicueta, moved daintily away from Gomez's challenge and sidefooted a rising shot that was brilliantly tipped onto the underside of the bar by Adrian. That was a seriously good save.
KEY STATS
- Liverpool have lost their last three away games, in three different competitions, without scoring a goal.
- Pedro made his 200th appearance for Chelsea.
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