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. 

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Economy

SpaceX shares slide below IPO price for first time

Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s shares stumbled below their initial public offering (IPO) price for the first time on Wednesday, just over a month after the company went public.

Hot news Home top

Iran puts Trump in coffin on giant billboard

An inscription splashed across the coffin says, “We Will Kill Trump,” in both Persian and English. Another message on the billboard says, “In memory of Minab’s children.”

Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola

Economy

Africa risks losing $300 billion blue economy potential, BRACED chair warns

BRACED boss noted that Africa’s blue economy has an estimated annual value of more than $300 billion if properly harnessed.

Sport

Argentina v Spain: Will Messi ‘bathe’ Yamal in 2026 FIFA World Cup final on Sunday?

In 2007, Messi, 20, Barcelona’s budding star, was paired with five-month-old Yamal in a charity calendar photo shoot put together by Barcelona’s foundation.

Idris Bugaje

Education

Lack of practice, mentorship hampering engineering sector’s progress: NBTE

NBTE boss noted that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway were designed offshore.

Africa

Religion central to West Africa’s stability, military readiness: USAFRICOM

The command chaplain of the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM), Kevin Forrester, has described spiritual readiness as a foundational pillar of military success.