It could have gone either way, but in a season of last-gasp winners, no-one had left before Estevao Willian's stoppage-time winner. Enzo Maresca's relieved and excited 70-yard sprint to celebrate showed the media pressure has been getting to him after all.
I was at Newcastle then Istanbul last week, so Chelsea v Liverpool at Stamford Bridge could have been quiet in comparison. With the two teams struggling lately, a decent number of key players injured and fans not exactly in love with both their playing styles, they still managed to serve up another breathless and noisy affair.
It could have gone either way, but in a season of last-gasp winners, no-one had left before Estevao Willian's stoppage-time winner.
Enzo Maresca's relieved and excited 70-yard sprint to celebrate showed the media pressure has been getting to him after all.
Even with a red card, it was a perfectly understandable reaction. His bold substitutions had worked - bringing on 19-year-old Marc Guiu, 21-year-old Jamie Gittens and the 18-year-old scorer Estevao were big but crucial calls near the end.
Maresca's willingness to be more offensive right from the start suggested he had listened to recent complaints about negativity.
Going from 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-4-1 might not sound like a huge change, but that additional forward midfielder contributed to their first goal and the extra attacking freedom raised the belief in his players.
Maybe the most pleasing thing was that neither team considered settling for a draw at 1-1. Because of this positivity and openness, the Premier League is as entertaining as it has ever been.
A loss for the Blues would have silenced any hopes from their fans. But, now they are back in the conversation for a top-four finish - all because the manager was brave enough to take a few more risks.
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Category: General Sports
