Chelsea draws 2-2 with Liverpool despite dropping Lukaku

Chelsea scored two first-half goals to dramatically hold Liverpool to a 2-2 draw on Sunday afternoon despite dropping Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku.

The former Inter striker granted an interview during the week where he stated that he was unhappy at the situation at Stamford Bridge and would prefer to move back to Inter very soon before he retires.

He also stated that he wished he did not leave the San Siro in the summer. However, before the start of the game on Sunday, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel stated that he had no choice than to drop Romelu Lukaku from the matchday squad due to the noise and controversies that trailed the interview.

Meanwhile, Liverpool started the game on the front foot and duly went ahead in the ninth minute of the first half through African Cup of Nations bound Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian forward scored his 150th goal in the Premier League to give Liverpool the lead.

Shortly after, the Reds doubled their advantage through another Africa Cup of Nations bound striker Sadio Mane in the 26th minute.

Chelsea got one back through Matheo Kovacic, who scored a spectacular strike in the 42nd minute, while Christian Pulisic found the equaliser just before half-time to level the scores and put both teams level going into the break.

Liverpool were hit by covid cases, which saw manager Jürgen Klopp missing out on the game after he tested positive as well as Brazilian goalkeeper Allison.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel explained that the decision to have Romelu Lukaku back on the team is likely to hold on Monday.

The German manager explained that he is happy with the attitude of his team in the game.

“You can win it anytime if you still believe and I am happy with the attitude and the quality we showed. We can still improve, we still struggled because of injuries and changes we had to make but we don’t want to be greedy. I am happy with my team.” Tuchel said.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu