Chelsea fight back to draw with Liverpool as Poch era begins

 

Chelsea began the Mauricio Pochettino era with a 1-1 draw against Liverpool in a hard-fought encounter at Stamford Bridge on the opening weekend of the Premier League.

Liverpool were dealt an early blow before arriving at Stamford Bridge after Moises Caicedo appeared to turn them down in favour of Chelsea despite agreeing a British record £111m transfer with Brighton for the midfielder on Friday.

But it was Liverpool that struck first as Luis Diaz ghosted in at the back post to convert Mohamed Salah's fine through ball after a mix-up in the Chelsea defence in the 18th minute. Chelsea equalised through debutant defender Axel Disasi - one of four for the new-look Blues - from close-range after a 37th-minute corner.

Salah and Ben Chilwell both had goals ruled out by the VAR for tight offsides in an action-packed first half in which the Liverpool forward struck the bar. Had Chelsea been more clinical though Pochettino could have been taking home all three points in his first outing as Blues boss.