Liverpool 2-2 Chelsea (5-4 on pens): 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

#3 Chelsea complement Sunday’s attacking promise with an end product

Giroud opened the scoring with a wonderful finish

Chelsea and Lampard were on the wrong side of a 4-0 scoreline on Sunday and though the score-line represented an absolute pasting, that was hardly the case at Old Trafford. The Blues showcased a lot of attacking verve and were slightly unlucky to not make the net bulge, despite having several opportunities to do so.

However, on Wednesday, the West London outfit conjured the end product that was sorely lacking from their game at the weekend.

Throughout the match, the Blues looked competent offensively and displayed composure in the attacking third.

Their efforts bore fruit in the 36th minute when Olivier Giroud was sent free courtesy a Pulisic through ball. The Frenchman took the ball in his stride and calmly finished past Adrian from the left-sided channel.

Another flowing move in the first period of extra-time saw the ball bounce towards Tammy Abraham, who displayed predatory instincts to nick the ball in front of Adrian, leading the latter to foul him and consequently, earning Chelsea a penalty.

At the weekend, several people were out with their knives waiting to massacre the Blues for shipping four goals against a top-four rival. Yet, that felt a tad unfair, considering the sheer number of openings they had carved out for themselves.

And on Wednesday, they portrayed that they’re indeed learning from their mistakes.

Though the two-goal salvo was not enough to land silverware, it certainly bodes well for Chelsea’s youthful squad moving forward.