Liverpool 1; Chelsea 0: The race for the Premiership title may now be Arsenal's to win but Liverpool it was who picked up the baton at Anfield yesterday when a goal in stoppage time from Vladimir Smicer finally cracked Chelsea's obdurate defence to return Gerrard Houllier's side to the top of the table.
Arsenal, two points behind, are now back in third but have two matches in hand. For the moment, however, Liverpool are glad to keep the contest a three-cornered affair, comforted by the knowledge that anything is still possible in a season of trip-wires and banana skins. The principle feature of yesterday's match was that so few costly errors were made by either team, a rarity when so many teams are defending carelessly.
Yesterday both pairs of centre-backs - Stephane Henchoz and Sami Hyypia for Liverpool and Marcel Desailly and William Gallas for Chelsea - were masters of their trade. Goals were never going to come cheaply and even Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen, who regularly give Chelsea the best attacking partnership in the Premiership, struggled to find time and space.
For Liverpool Emile Heskey and Nicolas Anelka were denied a decent service for much of the game. This was due to the consistent grip Emmanuel Petit and Frank Lampard gave Chelsea in midfield and the determination with which Liverpool players were pressurised on the ball.
For a long time the moment just before the half-hour when Steven Gerrard limped off and out of the England squad for Wednesday's friendly against Italy with another groin strain looked like depriving Liverpool of a win. Up to that point Gerrard had at least maintained parity with Petit.
Most of what chances there were in the first half came Chelsea's way. Just past the quarter-hour, Gudjohnsen's pass exploited the superiority Jesper Gronkjaer had already established over Jamie Carragher on the right. The Icelander then lunged in to meet Gronkjaer's low centre but failed to make proper contact and shot wide.
Midway through the half Petit's astute pass sent Gudjohnsen to the right-hand byline, from where he cut the ball back to Mario Stanic, coming in from the left. Jerzy Dudek blocked the Croatian's shot smartly enough but Stanic should have done better, and Hasselbaink wafted the rebound over the bar.
Michael Owen, coming back from his latest hamstring injury, did not appear until two minutes before the hour and, like Heskey and Anelka, was starved of passes. A sharp shot from Owen in the 79th minute brought Cudicini briefly into action but otherwise Chelsea looked well capable of at least keeping the match scoreless.
In fact they might have won it three minutes from the end when Hasselbaink exchanged passes with Gianfranco Zola, who had replaced Gudjohnsen, and raced clear. His shot looped beyond Dudek but only to land on the roof of the net.
For Liverpool, a narrow escape would have been small consolation for a failure to win. But nothing looked more certain than 0-0 when Jari Litmanen, on for Anelka, sent Heskey racing past Mario Melchiot on the left.
Heskey's cross was met by Smicer with superb right-footed volley into the net and so a Czech had bounced Liverpool back to the top. But Liverpool will have to bounce higher to stay there.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Xavier (Owen 57), Henchoz, Hyypia, Carragher, Murphy, Hamann, Gerrard (Smicer 28), Riise, Heskey, Anelka (Litmanen 83). Subs Not Used: Arphexad, McAllister. Booked: Carragher. Goals: Smicer 90.
CHELSEA: Cudicini, Melchiot, Desailly, Gallas, Babayaro, Stanic, Lampard, Petit, Gronkjaer, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen (Zola 82). Subs Not Used: de Goey, Dalla Bona, Terry, Forssell. Booked: Babayaro.
Referee: M Halsey.
