KIEV, UKRAINE – OCTOBER 20: Jose Mourinho of Chelsea looks on prior to kick off during the UEFA Champions League Group G match between FC Dynamo Kyiv and Chelsea at the Olympic Stadium on October 20, 2015 in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Klopp wins first league match, as Mourinho’s Chelsea plunge deeper into crisis

Posted by on Oct 31, 2015 11:50

Things couldn’t have started better for Jose Mourinho, and things couldn’t have ended much worse as his Chelsea team fell to Liverpool 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. Questions about Mourinho’s future will intensify as his team has the dubious honor of the worst title defense to start a season in Premier League history.

Chelsea did get off to an early lead as Ramires opened the scoring after just 3 minutes. The heavy lifting on that goal was done by Diego Costa and César Azpilicueta. Azpilicueta’s great run in behind effectively removed James Milner from the defense and gave the Chelsea man plenty of space to cross the ball into the path of Ramires, who headed it home.

After the poor start, Liverpool took control of the match. They were able to keep the ball for large chunks of time as Chelsea seemed content to try to sit on their lead for the full 90 minutes. Liverpool held onto the ball, and pressed well when they lost it. After the first goal, Chelsea had very little going forward. Philippe Coutinho, who had been quiet for most of the match at that point, punished Chelsea with the last kick of the first half. It had been coming as Liverpool had turned up the pressure at the end of the half, even though Chelsea might have felt a little aggravated that the half time whistle didn’t go sooner. The goal itself was a great piece of skill from Coutinho. The Brazilian skipped past Ramires and fired a shot just inside the post.

The sides remained the same at the start of the second half, and Chelsea came out the stronger team in the first few minutes. Liverpool soaked up the pressure well before asserting their control over the game again. From that point, it seemed far more likely that any goals scored would come from the visitors. Sure enough, that was the case, as Coutinho again scored with a fine curling effort. Coutinho’s second was a result of Christian Benteke’s aerial ability. A long ball from Mamadou Sakho was headed down by Benteke and into the feet of Coutinho. A slight deflection off John Terry’s leg saw the ball go into the net.

Chelsea did very little to attempt a comeback after going down 2-1. In the end, Liverpool once again made them pay for some casual defending. Benteke this time got in on the action as he put the match out of sight. A lovely dummy from Adam Lallana let Benteke collect the ball at the edge of the box and patiently get the ball onto his right foot for a calm finish and a 3-1 lead.

The score held from there and Liverpool secured a crucial three points and the first Premier League victory for new boss Jürgen Klopp. Liverpool move up to 7th with 17 points even though all the other teams need to play this weekend. Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Chelsea sit in 15th place with 11 points. Chelsea now has six losses in their first 11 matches. While Liverpool deserves a lot of credit for their performance, and Klopp deserves praise for his excellent tactical setup, all talk will be about Mourinho. The loss puts his job in very hot water. Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, is famously not very patient when it comes to managers. Despite claims that the owner trust the Portuguese manager, it’s going to be tough for him to accept a 15th place club. Especially with the amount of money he’s pumping in. As far as Mourniho is concerned, he has nothing to say.

Liverpool play Crystal Palace at home next Sunday, and Chelsea play Stoke City in Stoke next Saturday. Both have midweek games as Chelsea takes on Dynamo Kyiv at Stamford Bridge in Champions League play on Wednesday while Liverpool travels to Russia to face Rubin Kazan in the Europa League on Thursday.

About Harrison Prolic

Northern Illinois graduate with a degree in Journalism. Full-time page designer in Madison, Wisconsin. Part time follower of all things German soccer. I tweet about the Bundesliga and plenty of other sports @hprolic.

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