Chelsea 1 - 2 Liverpool

thesun.co.uk

GLEN JOHNSON slotted a dramatic late winner to see Liverpool grab a stunning victory at Stamford Bridge.

While all the pre-match focus on Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles taking on their former employers, it was a former Blues ace who made the difference.

Johnson's jinking dribble and finish on 87 minutes to make it two Premier League defeats in two for Chelsea at home.

And it came after sub Daniel Sturridge had come of the bench at half-time to cancel out a Maxi Rodriguez opener.

The game started with £85million worth of strikers on the bench, with Chelsea preferring Didier Drogba to Torres and Craig Bellamy getting the nod for Liverpool ahead of Andy Carroll.

It was the men in red who looked stronger from the off, with Rodriguez making two probing runs beyond Luis Suarez and Bellamy.

It took 10 minutes for the home side to seriously threaten, Juan Mata drilling Florent Malouda's cross dangerously back across goal.

At the other end, Branislav Ivanovic got a vital touch on Bellamy's cross before Glen Johnson wasted a great opportunity to tee up a team-mate after a barnstorming run.

Liverpool were looking more than comfortable, although Drogba's freekick gave them a fright when it hit the stanchion to the right of the goal and appeared, to some parts of the ground, to have rolled in.

Terry, whose error cost Chelsea dearly against Arsenal in their last home game, made another gaffe in the 28th minute when he robbed by Kuyt but David Luiz snuffed out the Liverpool attack.

Lucas was booked for clattering into the defender but the visitors' pressure was beginning to tell and they took the lead five minutes later after more horrendous defending.

John Obi Mikel dwelt on Petr Cech's pass and Charlie Adam robbed him, fed Bellamy, who played a one-two with Suarez before feeding Maxi to clip over the goalkeeper.

An angry exchange between Terry and Bellamy, who have had more than one run in down the years, was calmed by referee Lee Probert.

The home defence continued to look in disarray, with Luiz conceding a needless free-kick curled over by Suarez.

With Chelsea desperate for a change in fortunes, boss Andre Villas-Boas hauled off Mikel for Sturridge at the restart.

It almost paid off four minutes in when Frank Lampard and Mata combined to find Drogba, who curled over horribly from a good position.

The home side still looked uncertain whenever Liverpool broke, but their pressure told in the 55th minute thanks to some rotten defending from the visitors.

Malouda was allowed to advance into the box and his cross-cum-shot was tapped home by Sturridge.

A wonder-save from Jose Reina then stopped Ivanovic glancing home Drogba's free-kick two minutes later as Chelsea continued to dominate.

Ramires was booked for a late tackle on Martin Skrtel, with Kuyt following suit after hauling back Malouda.

Liverpool threw on Jordan Henderson for Bellamy in a bid to stem the tide, while Malouda went close with an audacious overhead kick.