Chelsea
showed the hallmarks of a Premier League title-winning team in Saturday's
1-1 draw at Liverpool, says Gary Neville.
European champions Chelsea dug deep to put on a defensive masterclass as
Thomas Tuchel's side ensured their unbeaten start to the season was not
derailed by Reece James' contentious dismissal for handball in first-half
stoppage-time at Anfield.
Mohamed Salah scored the resulting penalty, but Chelsea channelled their
anger and frustration at the decision into a superb second-half defensive
display which Neville believes will breathe confidence into their title
challenge and leaves Liverpool with doubts.
"It was an absolutely brilliant game," Neville told Sky Sports. "Before the
game we thought this would be a much sterner test for Chelsea than they had
at Arsenal, but they will leave Anfield confident.
"They played well in the first half and managed Liverpool, who were playing
really well, but the resilience they showed in the second half is what we
associate with championship-winning teams. They are a long way from that,
but they have shown those qualities."
Neville added: "Liverpool will leave with a couple of doubts that they
couldn't go and punish Chelsea in the second half. Liverpool at full pelt
under Jurgen Klopp would have gone and won that game a few years ago."
Tuchel: James red spoiled game
Chelsea head coach Tuchel claimed James' contentious dismissal spoiled an
enthralling Anfield contest.
Anthony Taylor sent off Chelsea full-back James for handling a Sadio Mane
shot during a penalty-box melee after reviewing the footage on the advice of
the video assistant referee.
The Chelsea head coach understood how the decision was reached but voiced
calls for officials to be granted more time and viewing angles for future
decisions.
"I don't like these early red cards, of course - not at Liverpool when we
play but in general," Tuchel said. "For me it's a bit the spoiler of the
game.
"Nobody I think wants to see that for 45 minutes, they want to see a
high-level game and even me when I'm watching on TV, I don't like it. I have
no solution now for it and no better idea in the moment but in general it is
a spoiler.
"The situation itself, I can understand the decision and I'm not saying it's
a wrong decision, but I did not like the way the referee checked it because
for me he checked only the image.
"I would have wished for a longer consideration, a longer thought and a
better view on the whole situation. Maybe he would have taken the same
decision. I think it stays a grey situation and he could have maybe taken
the same decision and we have to live with it."
Tuchel confirmed returning midfielder N'Golo Kante was replaced at half-time
due to injury, which he says made the point at Anfield all the more
impressive.
"I mean, can there be any harder challenge than going one man down and
taking N'Golo Kante off at half-time at Anfield? I don't know," he added.
"And having Liverpool playing towards the Kop.
"[It's a] pretty tough one but we did excellent, and we are super happy how
we did and we feel like we deserved a point.
"With pure will, we took the heat out of the game. That was team effort at
its very best. They never lost the shape, they tried to close the half
spaces. I was hoping we would survive and take a well-earned point, and we
did, the teamwork was absolutely fantastic."
Klopp: A point a fair result
Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp was frustrated his side were unable to
convert their numerical advantage into victory but saluted his players'
effort.
"Today we obviously had bigger chances in the first half already, which we
didn't score," Klopp said.
"The performance was really good against the strongest Chelsea side for a
long, long time. It's always difficult against Chelsea, so I was really
happy with the first half.
"The second half, I'm not somebody that just watches from time to time and
says 'oh 11 against 10, that must be easy'. I saw five million games, I know
that's really not a massive advantage, especially against a quality side
like Chelsea with the defending skills they have.
"They knew the job they had to do was just to defend in and around the box
more or less, and it was tricky. We could have done better for sure but it's
early in the season. We need this one moment where you get through, where
you can finish it off.
"We had our finishers, we had good football moments. We tried everything, we
defended the potential counter-attacks most of the time really well -
sometimes we had to run a bit further to catch them again but we did.
"Chelsea put a proper shift in as well and I respect that, so it's a draw.
Just take the point and carry on."
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