Topics: Chelsea, Liverpool, Premier League, Football, Marc Cucurella, Mohamed Salah, Enzo Maresca
Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella revealed that his side purposely targeted a Liverpool player during their late 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Maresca’s side secured victory with a 95-minute winner as Liverpool slumped to a third consecutive loss.
The home side got off to a great start when, on 14 minutes, Moises Caicedo smashed past Giorgi Mamardashvili from range to hand Chelsea the advantage.
It took until the 64th minute for Liverpool to equalise, which came when Cody Gakpo took advantage of Alexander Isak’s assist.
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And just as the game was nearing its conclusion, Chelsea burst forward as Enzo Fernandez found Cucurella, whose cross set up 18-year-old Brazilian Estevao, who slid the ball home ahead of Andrew Robertson to hand the west London side a late winner.
During the jubilant celebrations at Stamford Bridge, head coach Maresca was sent off after being shown a second yellow card by referee Anthony Taylor.
The win moves Chelsea up to sixth place after seven matches, with Liverpool second, one point behind leaders Arsenal, who beat West Ham 2-0 on Saturday.
Several Liverpool players, such as Ibrahima Konate and Alexis Mac Allister, caught the brunt of the criticism from fans for their lacklustre performances, but Cucurella revealed how Chelsea did, in fact, plan to target another Reds star during the match.
Speaking in a post-match interview with Sky Sports, the Spaniard said: "We know that [Mohamed] Salah is always ready for the counterattack attack so we practised that and the manager said that the space might be there.
“We saw that it was the last minute, but we kept attacking. I tried to give my last effort, and Enzo gave me the ball, and I crossed for Estevao.
“I think we deserve it. We started the game very well, and then the second-half, we started not in the right way again – we need to improve these things.
“But in general, I think we deserve this win. We came through some tough weeks. This moment was amazing, and we go into the break with three points, so we are very happy.”
Liverpool’s right flank is something of a problem position this season, with Conor Bradley withdrawn at half-time for the second consecutive game, while Jeremie Frimpong is yet to nail down a starting spot following his summer transfer from Bayer Leverkusen.
As for Salah, he is currently struggling by his high standards and has registered just two goals in seven Premier League appearances so far this term.
Liverpool will return to Premier League action against Manchester United on Sunday, 19 October, after the upcoming international break.
