Liverpool 0-2 Chelsea
For the second time this week, Chelsea proved themselves to be the masters of smothering as a blanket defence shut out the league's most prolific attack of recent years.
But unlike at Atletico Madrid in midweek, where they were happy just to share the spoils, this time they managed a goal on the break and one more in the final minute for good measure.
It re-opens a title race that had looked over for them a week ago.
The Blues are now two points behind with two to play and who knows what damage they may have inflicted on the league leaders' psyche. The Reds had won 11 on the bounce going into the match.
Steven Gerrard, of all people, handed Chelsea their lifeline with a costly blunder that gifted Demba Ba a shock goal in first half injury time.
There seemed little danger when Mamadou Sakho played a square ball to the Reds' captain. But a fateful stumble left Ba with a free run on goal and the Senegal striker buried the chance – tucking past the advancing Simon Mignolet.
It may only have been his eighth of a stop-start season for him, but added to the goals he scored against PSG and Swansea, suggests he has discovered a useful knack of scoring timely goals.
'Steven Gerrard, he's done it again,' crowed the visiting fans who remember his own goal in the League Cup final that gave Jose Mourinho his first trophy at Stamford Bridge.
Few would have predicted the way the game unfolded after the team sheets were handed in.
Chelsea's line-up felt the equivalent of a towel being thrown into the ring – though we cannot say we were not warned.
Mourinho's priority was always going to be the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday following the disaster against Sunderland last week.
That crippling 2-1 defeat at the Bridge allowed Liverpool to get one hand and maybe a few fingers more onto the Premier League trophy.
The match no longer carried the intensity of title decider and with the raft of injuries curtailing the options, the Chelsea boss went for a line-up that included league debutant Tomas Kalas, with Ba preferred up front to Fernando Torres.
The bench included Nathan Ake, Lewis Baker and Marco Van Ginkel. Even Liverpool's uninvolved 'sub' carried more clout – Luis Garcia paraded before kick-off.
He is the man, lest Jose forget, who scored the infamous ghost goal that did for Chelsea in the 2005 Champions League semi-final.
And yet, Chelsea managed to prey on home anxieties highly effectively, almost from the start and it was a classic display to rival the masterclass of a win at Man City.
Break outs of defence may only have been sporadic, but Chelsea's determination to lower the tempo to suit them and waste a little time got under the skin of home fans and players alike.
At one stage, Mourinho himself held onto a ball that rolled into touch and had Gerrard wrestling him for possession. It all added to the sense of creeping home frustration that worked in Chelsea's favour.
They got forward just enough to hint they might do some damage – Ashley Cole forcing Mignolet into a full-length save and Kalas glancing a Frank Lampard corner wide from six yards. His kick out at the post underlined the fact he knew it was a good chance.
At the other end, there were corner galore and lots of pressing but not as many palpitations as there might have been for a well-organised Blues defence – Luis Suarez curling one stinging effort just over and earlier, Philippe Coutinho hitting the side-netting with a volley.
If anything, the second half was even more clogged up than the first, but as the game worse on, Liverpool looked less and less likely to prevail.
In a counter-attack, Andre Schurrle forced Mignolet into another save and a second goal for the Blues looked almost as likely as an equaliser.
Errors and doubts from the home team started to multiply and the Kop grew quieter, though it still needed a tip over from a very solid Mark Schwarzer to deny Suarez at the death.
The keeper's calmness as Petr Cech's understudy typified the team ethic.
Two subs combined at the end to apply the coup de grace, Liverpool, with everyone pressing for an equaliser, lost possession and Torres had an unopposed run from inside his own half.
A lay-off to Willian as Mignolet came out to greet him left the Brazilian with a simple tap-in.
Winning the title is still a long shot, with Man City back in the equation. But much less of a long shot than before.
Line-up: Schwarzer; Azpilicueta, Kalas, Ivanovic, Cole; Mikel, Matic, Lampard; Salah (Willian 60), Schurrle (Cahill 77), Ba (Torres 85). Subs not used: Hilario, Van Ginkel, Ake, Baker. Attendance: 44,726
