Thursday, July 16, 2026

EPL: Pochettino Chelsea’s reign begins with one-all draw against Liverpool

Chelsea and Liverpool failed to get their rhythm in each other’s third half in the second half.

• August 13, 2023
Chelsea vs Liverpool
Chelsea vs Liverpool [Insta; Al Jazeera]

Chelsea and Liverpool settled for a one-all at Stamford Bridge in their opening game of the season on Sunday evening as Mauricio Pochettino officially began his tenure at the helm of affairs at the West London club.

Luis Diaz put visitors upfront in the 18th minute after finding the net from Mohamed Salah’s cross from the right side of the pitch. 

Eleven minutes later, ‘the Egyptian king’ managed to score himself, but the well-slotted goal was ruled out for offside after consultation with the VAR.

In the 37th minute, new signing Axel Disasi equalised for Pochettino’s side on his Premier League debut – the French defender acrobatically put Ben Chilwell headed into the net. 

Barely two minutes later, Ben Chilwell thought he had given the Blues the lead, but VAR ruled out the England international’s goal as offside.

Luck was not on Salah’s side in the match as he failed to score before he was substituted for Harvey Elliot in the 77th minute, ending a six-year-long goal-scoring streak in EPL opening matches.

The closest Salah came to scoring a clean goal came in the first half but his effort struck the crossbar out – he was not pleased with his substitution and left the pitch visibly upset.

Chelsea and Liverpool failed to get their rhythm in each other’s third half in the second half; they created many chances but were not clinical enough as the Blues and the Reds settled for one point apiece. 

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