London: Diego Costa’s missed second half penalty cost Premier League leaders Chelsea a victory at Liverpool, Tuesday but a 1-1 draw did little damage to their title prospects as closest rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur dropped points.
Spain striker Costa was denied by Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet, who made amends for being caught off guard by a superb David Luiz free-kick midway through the first half.
Georginio Wijnaldum’s close-range header leveled the scores in the 57th minute as Liverpool avoided a fourth consecutive home defeat in all competitions, although Juergen Klopp’s side remain 10 points adrift in fourth place.
“It’s important to draw against a really good team and now we must focus on playing Arsenal next week,” Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said ahead of Saturday’s game at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal, who began the day second, must recover quickly from a shock 1-2 home loss to Watford who managed a first league win in eight games. This was their first victory over the Gunners since 1998.
Watford scored twice inside the first 13 minutes through Younes Kaboul and Troy Deeney and hung on for the victory after Alex Iwobi pulled one back near the hour mark.
“It was obvious we lost duels and were not sharp enough. It looked more mentally that we were not ready for the challenges,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
Arsenal are nine points behind Chelsea, who have 56, along with Tottenham Hotspur who moved above their north London rivals on goal difference after a lacklustre 0-0 draw at basement club Sunderland.
Champions Leicester City’s relegation worries are becoming acute after Claudio Ranieri’s side went down 1-0 at Burnley for whom Sam Vokes grabbed a late winner.
Chelsea have not lost a league game at Anfield since 2012, although they will probably feel a little short-changed after failing to capitalise on Liverpool’s lack of form.
Klopp’s side will be glad to see the back of January having won just once in nine games – an FA Cup replay against Plymouth Argyle – and suffering three consecutive home defeats.
After Liverpool made a bright start it looked like another night of woe when the crafty Luiz noticed Mignolet arranging his wall and seized his chance to plant a superb free-kick into the corner left vacated by the distracted keeper.
There was plenty of spirit from Liverpool, though, and Wijnaldum levelled in the 57th minute after James Milner did well to head Jordan Henderson’s cross back towards goal.
When Costa went down after a challenge by Joel Matip 14 minutes from time it looked as though Chelsea would avenge their defeat at Stamford Bridge earlier this season but Mignolet spared the hosts with a fine stop.
Reuters
