Super sub Willian saves Chelsea at Liverpool after Mohamed Salah threatened to haunt former club

Before Mohamed Salah, there was Willian - the other player that Chelsea snatched from underneath Liverpool's nose. Whereas the former failed in west London and eventually made his way to Anfield, the latter has become something of a Stamford Bridge stalwart and here, his late strike denied Salah vengeance.

It did not seem as if the Brazilian intended to equalise with his wayward cross five minutes from full-time, but the centre intended for Alvaro Morata instead floated over Simon Mignolet's helpless right hand and drifted into the far corner of the net.

It was a cruel way for Jurgen Klopp's side to concede, not least because it came when three valuable points against a direct rival seemed within reach. Salah had read the script and put Liverpool ahead midway through the second-half, coolly finishing past Thibaut Courtois after a Tiémoué Bakayoko had allowed him in.

Ultimately though, the hosts could not complain about the final result. Antonio Conte's side limited them effectively for the majority of the evening and threatened themselves, especially through the excellent Eden Hazard, who particularly shone in the first-half.

Conte’s intentions were clear from the teamsheet. With Danny Drinkwater, N’Golo Kanté and Bakayoko lined up in blue across the middle of the park, Chelsea arrived intent on sitting deep, staying tight and picking the hosts off at the opportune moment.

Liverpool duly saw much of the ball in the opening stages but found too many bodies between themselves and the goalmouth to fashion any clear opportunities. Salah was reduced to shots from range. Roberto Firmino, rested alongside Sadio Mané, was particularly missed, with Daniel Sturridge unable to open up the space that Klopp’s attack thrives upon.

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What was required was a little guile and invention, and Liverpool only needed to look at Hazard to see how a dash of artfulness can discombobulate a defence. The Belgian began to dazzle and was the first visiting player to test Mignolet. Drinkwater was the second and should have done better when expertly slipped in behind by Hazard’s delightful through ball, but Mignolet was quick to smother the danger.

Chelsea’s best sight of goal, however, came a few minutes later when one of several blue shirts should have capitalised on Liverpool’s failure to clear a corner. There was bedlam in the box, and Joe Gomez was a touch fortunate not to be penalised after desperately tackling Morata from behind, but at the umpteenth time of asking, the danger was eventually cleared.

The only time in the first-half that Liverpool came close to provoking the same panic from their opponents was, of course, through Salah, who expertly spun Gary Cahill on the edge of the area, turned away from Kanté then fired a low shot wide of Thibaut Courtois’ far post.

If Liverpool were to find a breakthrough, they would need to either get smart or get lucky. It did not seem as if Chelsea would afford them another opportunity, limiting Klopp’s side to yet more harmless pot-shots after the interval, but then a small crack appeared in the thin blue line.

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As Philippe Coutinho attempted to thread another pass through a mass of defenders, Bakayoko took a loose and fateful touch. The ball broke back for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who applied the lightest of touches and played Salah in on goal. Courtois was slow to react, allowing the Egyptian slid a composed finish past him.

Chelsea searched for a response and went close to finding one when Marcos Alonso was left in acres of space at the far post, but the wing-back blazed a volley high over the crossbar and into the Anfield Road end.

Then, just as Liverpool had found a fortunate breakthrough, Chelsea's luck evened out. Mignolet, like the rest of the 53,000 around Anfield, expected Willian's cross to fall on the head of Morata. Instead, it swept over his head, exposed his poor positioning and nestled in the far corner of the net.

On the touchline, Klopp was incandescent. He was waiting to bring Adam Lallana onto the field and in his post-match press conference, claimed that the equaliser would not have come had he been allowed to replace the quiet Coutinho sooner. “I was angry,” the Liverpool manager later admitted. “We wanted to change the system but the ref didn't give us the opportunity.”

In the dying moments, Salah could still have had the final say. The Egyptian let loose with another powerful drive, again from range, and this time it seemed destined for the bottom-right hand corner. Courtois, however, was on hand to tip the effort around the post.​

Liverpool (4-3-3): Mignolet; Gomez, Matip, Klavan, Moreno; Henderson, Milner, Coutinho (Lallana 89); Oxlade-Chamberlain (Mané 89), Salah, Sturridge (Wijnaldum 66).

Substitutes not used: Karius, Firmino, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold.

Chelsea (3-5-1-1): Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill; Zappacosta (Willian 83), Drinkwater (Fabregas 74), Kante, Bakayoko (Pedro 77), Alonso; Hazard, Morata.

Substitutes: Caballero, Rudiger, Moses, Luiz.

Referee: Michael Oliver (Durham)

Attendance: 53,225