| Chelsea | 1-1 | Liverpool |
| Terry 20 | Suarez 73 |
Considering the poo that was served up in the first half this turned out to be a very satisfying point in the end.
Rodgers, as bold as ever, decided to opt for three at the back to combat Chelsea's attacking threat and while there's an argument to say it didn't work, the real fact of the matter was that too many players in red shirts had shockers in a thoroughly disappointing first half.
Raheem Sterling was a little lost in a central role, but it was in midfield where it was all going wrong as a particularly lightweight looking duo of Allen and Sahin were consistently overrun. Joe Allen continued his recent run of poor form by being caught in possession on several occasions. Even if the movement of his colleagues was non-existent (and at times it was), he was still far to ponderous on the ball.
Allen's first error came just 6 minutes in when he was dispossessed just 25 yards out from his own goal. Fortunately Oscar failed to capitalise as he blazed his shot over the bar. After this early scare the Reds began to settle down a little with some decent possession, although predictably enough the majority of it was in their own half.
In the 20th minute Howard Webb popped up with an assist of sorts for Chelsea's goal. Sahin played what looked to be a useful counter-attacking ball straight off Webb's arse, and the home side were back on the attack.
From the resulting corner John "some of my best friends are black" Terry rose unchallenged to power home a header at the near post. Replays showed that Daniel Agger was sort of blocked off but I'm sure he would be the first to say that he should've done better. A we've come to expect in recent times, one mistake equals one goal.
An impotent looking Fernando Torres had a shot comfortably saved by Jones five minutes later as Chelsea looked to extend their lead. The Reds really began to struggle to stay in the game at this point with Allen again giving the ball away in dangerous areas, albeit not helped by an anonymous Gerrard and Sahin.
Jose Enrique was seeing far too much of the ball over on the left wing for my liking, which also wasn't helping things. Throughout the game he was criminally caught offside on numerous occasions showing his usual lack of awareness, and his passing in general was poor. Naturally enough this was worthy of a Man of the Match award from Sky Sports' Niall Quinn.
The quite beautiful sight of John Terry rolling around in agony came as a welcome respite for the Reds, as the Chelsea skipper was forced off in the 36th minute with a damaged knee after colliding with Suarez. Nevertheless there was still time for another Chelsea chance as Juan Mata skied his effort high over the bar with practically the last kick of the half.
The second half began pretty much as the first ended and it was becoming increasingly difficult to see anything other than a home win. Joe Allen was booked in the 50th minute after once again being caught on the ball, and then fouling his man while trying to redeem himself. He really did have a stinker today.
Torres then had a header well saved from a dangerous in-swinging free kick before Rodgers finally acknowledged changes were needed. Suso was introduced for the ineffectual Sahin and the formation reverted to a back four, with Enrique ahead of Johnson down the left.
Credit should be given to Rodgers for this change as it did improve things for his side. You could argue that this is the team he should've started with but the important point is that he recognised that changes were needed and made them.
Even though the Reds were showing signs of getting back into the contest the goal when it came on 73 minutes, was still slightly out of the blue. Andre Wisdom showed great tenacity to win the ball on the half way line, eventually forcing a corner after combining with Suarez.
Suso's delivery from the right was flicked on by Carragher and Suarez was on hand to nod into an empty net. I'm not sure which was more surprising – The Uruguayan getting a tap-in or Carra notching his first assist since 1978. Either way it was fantastic to be back level when we could have been buried.
The final 15 minutes saw decent chances at both ends with Sterling breaking well, Ivanovic heading over from a corner and Suarez almost going around Cech in the 88th minute. Then in injury time there was a great chance to sneak the winner when Enrique was played in down the left, but his safe-ish shot was palmed wide by Cech.
When you consider the amount of money Chelsea have spent they really didn't look up to much today. They've got a real problem with Torres and Hazard looks like he's a long way from being the player he thinks he is. Aside from Mata, and Oscar in patches, they were very ordinary.
Coming back to get a point at Stamford Bridge keeps the mini-run of six games without a defeat in the league going, but with only two of those being wins it's hardly anything to get excited about. This season is proving to be a slow and at times quite painful journey but today we at least showed some battling qualities which have not previously been evident.
Now roll on this "easy" run of games!
Subs: Suso for Sahin (60)
Unused Subs: Gulacsi, Coates, Downing, Henderson, Assaidi, Cole.
