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90+4min: FULL TIME. CHELSEA WIN!
90+3min: Corner for Liverpool as Rüdiger clears ahead of an onrushing Salah. Milner takes, Chelsea clear. Robertson crosses back in; Azpi clears for another corner. In it comes, Salah takes a wild swing and Kepa punches clear for a throw. Chelsea finally hack it clear to the halfway line.
90min: Good work from Pedro to play out of pressure, then Alonso’s fouled by Firmino to allow Chelsea to waste some time. James on for Giroud, who’s absolutely shattered. 4 minutes added on.
88min: Rüdiger’s picked up a cramp. Looks okay to carry on.
87min: Gilmour with a great bit of play in midfield, holding the ball then playing in Giroud. His shot is deflected for a corner, from which Liverpool try to counter, but Azpi’s there to cover.
85min: Great ball over the top finds Mount, he goes for goal (well over the bar) instead of playing the simple pass back in for Giroud. Probably was offside anyway.
83min: Azpi blocks Robertson’s cross for a corner. Firmino wins the header and knocks it down, but no one else gets a boot to it and it runs wide of the net.
80min: Salah’s on, to a smattering of boos from the home crowd. Not sure that’s really justified but whatever.
79min: Chelsea push with Alonso, but his pass in to Pedro is cut out at the last second.
77min: Liverpool give the ball away in their defensive third as Chelsea put on the press, but Jorginho gets his short cross for Giroud in acres of space all wrong and it runs through to Adrian.
76min: Kepa punches a cross clear in traffic for a corner. Liverpool play it short, then win another one of the far side as Gilmour tracks Mané. Milner takes but Barkley clears and Pedro can run it clear. He’s hacked down from behind by Milner, who earns a well-deserved yellow.
74min: Giroud somehow bounds through the center, shrugs off his defender and looks to have the ball in the back of the net. Adrian gets a hand to it and just enough to divert it onto the crossbar. The ball bounces down and out. Unlucky!
71min: A 30-yard shot from Gomez is poor and well wide.
70min: Firmino on for Origi, Milner on for Jones as Klopp puts on a couple of the big guns.
67min: Pedro nicks the ball from Gomez pushing high on a corner and he’s in behind all alone on the goalkeeper. But Gomez is catching up as Pedro’s running out of steam — it’s a long way to run! — and he tries to put it through Adrian’s legs. He closes the wickets. That would’ve sealed it.
64min: GOALLLLLLL!! BARKLEYYYY! Barkley burst through center, puts his head down as he does, ignoring Pedro’s run to the right. But this time it pays off as he leathers it into the back of the net from 20 yards out. It flashed past Adrian practically before he could even start his dive. What a hit! 2-0, CHELSEA!!!
62min: Azpi switches, Barkley overplays, but Mount gets to the ball just ahead of Fabinho, who wipes him out and earns a yellow much to Liverpool’s chagrin. Excellent shooting position for the free kick, 20 or so yards out, central. Barkley, Alonso, Mount conference over it. Barkley fakes, Mount takes, and it’s off the top of the crossbar. So unlucky!
59min: From Pedro’s clearance, Giroud controls and starts the counter. But Barkley gets his through ball wrong and the chance is gone. Chelsea recycle the ball, left-to-right, and Gilmour’s pass hits Lallana in the arm, winning Chelsea a free kick 25 yards out, just right of center. Mount clips in the free kick and Alonso wins the header, but Giroud can’t quite turn his man to get a shot in.
57min: Another Liverpool break, this time on their left. Alonso makes a mess of the clearance on the cross, but Zouma blocks for a corner, which is hit well over the head of everyone. Liverpool recycle possession, working left-to-right, then back left. Pedro tracks back well to clear.
56min: Liverpool break through midfield, but pick a poor pass in the final third and a long-shot is blocked by Mané and then caught by Kepa.
52min: Chelsea build left-to-right, but Pedro overhits his cross, well over both Giroud and Mount.
50min: Willian’s now down with an apparent lower left leg injury. He limps off for Jorginho. We’re dropping like flies.
49min: Chelsea counter on the right, but Willian’s pass looking for the runner in the middle is cut out by VVD.
48min: Liverpool threaten briefly with Origi, but he delays and dribbles inside into traffic and Pedro can step in to run it clear. Azpi then defends well as Liverpool try to pass through the center.
46min: No changes for either side at the half, and Giroud restarts the match with a backwards pass.
HALF-TIME: Pedro’s hacked down in the final act of the half. It’s been a fairly even yet frantic half; with just the one goal, which has Chelsea in the lead, 1-0
45+2min: Zouma’s mistake allows a 2-v-1 against Alonso, but Gilmour’s back just in time to cover Mané. Great half for the youngster.
Gilmour pic.twitter.com/zooBBfDlzA
— amadí (@amadoit__) March 3, 2020
45+1min: Rüdiger of all people puts in a pretty good cross. Giroud battles for it, but can only get his header wide.
45min: Mount and Willian work a two-man game on the right before the latter puts a low cross back in for the former. Liverpool get a foot in to clear.
44min: Mount into the action after getting the ball from Pedro. Giroud tries to get the ball to Barkley, but instead runs into Van Dijk.
42min: Kovačić down injured and getting his left ankle looked at ... doesn’t look good as he shakes his head, but is able to walk off gingerly under his own power. Mount getting ready on the bench and is on to replace Mateo.
38min: Liverpool have a corner after Rüdiger clears a Van Dijk knockdown in the area. Liverpool win the near post flick-on, but Origi slams his effort high into the stands.
36min: Alonso hacks down Mané 30 yards out. In comes the free kick, Kepa punches wide and clear.
34min: Kovačić wins the ball in midfield to get Chelsea moving forward through Gilmour and Pedro. His cross is just over Barkley and just short of Giroud. Barkley then blocks the follow-up long shot from Kovačić by being offside.
33min: After a bit of delay for pushing and shoving, Willian takes the corner. It runs out to Barkley who goes for a half-volley. Wide.
32min: Willian drops a shoulder and squirts through a couple players on the right, putting in a good low cross towards Giroud at the far post. Williams clears just in time for a corner.
30min: Another save from Kepa after Mané turns Rüdiger from a throw-in. Williams’ follow-up is well wide.
29min: Chelsea overplay a counter after Kovačić wins the ball. Alonso gets a shot in, but it’s blocked. Barkley then passes up a shooting opportunity to play in Willian instead, but he’s offside.
27min: Speculative curling effort from Williams doesn’t curl and thus goes well wide.
26min: Barkley finds Giroud with a nice long ball. He knocks it back down for Kovačić to run onto and shoot, which he does, but scuffs his effort a bit and Adrian can gather easily.
25min: Liverpool press and Chelsea’s defense bends, but does not break. Alonso blocks a cross to clear for a corner eventually. Fabinho takes, Chelsea take a while but hack it clear eventually.
21min: Giroud and Van Dijk come together on a high ball, with the latter winning but the former getting a boot high as he’s falling over. For some reason it goes to VAR review. It’s quickly over, confirming the correct no call.
20min: TRIPLE SAVE FROM KEPA as Chelsea’s defense breaks down and neither Azpi nor Zouma nor Kovačić can clear.
17min: Barkley loses the ball, Gilmour wins it back, then Barkley wins a free kick in prime shooting position for Alonso. Alonso takes but it’s over the crossbar, though not by much.
15min: A Chelsea corner is cleared easily, but Chelsea in the ascendancy here.
14min: A Chelsea counter breaks down after Barkley puts his pass behind Giroud, then he overhits his switch for Willian.
13min: GOAL!!!! WILLIAN!!! Willian tests Adrian with a powerful blast twice in quick succession. Adrian makes the first save, then Liverpool give the ball away as they try to play out and Willian gets another chance. Adrian can’t handle the power this time. 1-0, CHELSEA!!
11min: Chelsea counter through Gilmour, who finds Willian. He switches to Pedro, but he tries to play a cute pass for Giroud instead of leathering at the net. Barkley then shows how it’s done with a 30-yard rasper than knocks Adrian off his feet as he makes the save.
10min: Zouma covers Mané well after a great through ball finds the Liverpool striker. Alonso blocks the subsequent cross.
9min: Long ball down the left finds Origi. He cuts inside Azpilicueta and puts in a flat sharp cross. Mané’s ahead of Alonso, but the ball’s behind Mané and Chelsea survive.
6min: Fantastic diagonal switch from Barkley finds Pedro. His first touch is great, but his second touch is terrible and Liverpool clear for a corner. Azpi wins the ball at the near post, but Giroud and Rüdiger, making the far post runs, both just miss the flick on
5min: Giroud, Barkley, and Pedro combine well to create a half-chance for Chelsea. Alonso then called offside after the ball gets circulated back around.
3min: An early corner by Liverpool is cleared by Chelsea. But Liverpool come again as Chelsea’s defense crumbles. A cutback from Lallana from the short left finds Mane, but his shot is weak and Kepa can save and grab it at the second attempt. Not a great start from the home side, with Kepa and Zouma shaky especially.
KICK-OFF: And we’re off!
A place in the elite eight of the FA Cup is on the line as modern rivals Chelsea and Liverpool meet for the third time this season (with a fourth yet to come as well).
Here we go!
Chelsea starting lineup (4-3-3):
Kepa | Azpilicueta, Rüdiger, Zouma, Alonso | Gilmour, Kovacic, Barkley | Willian, Giroud, Pedro
Substitutes from: Caballero, Tomori, James, Jorginho, Mount, Anjorin, Batshuayi
Liverpool starting lineup (4-3-3):
Adrian | Williams, Van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson | Fabinho, Lallana, Jones | Minamino, Mane, Origi
Substitutes from: Lonergan, Milner, Firmino, Salah, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Matip, Chirivella
Date / Time: Tuesday, March 3, 2020, 19.45 GMT; 2.45pm EST; 1:15am IST (next day)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (on-pitch); Andre Marriner (VAR)
On TV: BBC One (UK); none (USA); Sony TEN 2 (India); SuperSport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: BBC iPlayer (UK); ESPN+ (USA); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now (NGA) — We (WAGNH) have an affiliate link for ESPN+ if you’re in the US and would like to sign up for the best value in sports streaming (or, if you’re like me, sign up for the Disney-Hulu-ESPN+ bundle).
Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.