CHELSEA came back from two goals down at home to draw with Liverpool on Sunday in a game between the Premier League’s second- and third-placed teams at Stamford Bridge. The only real winner of the game was Manchester City, whose lead at the top of the table has opened to 10 points after the side’s 2-1 win away to Arsenal on Saturday. “It is a big gap,” Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk said. “They have the title, maybe, but anything can happen.” That’s even before Liverpool is the hardest hit by players heading to the African Cup of Nations. Before leaving for what could be more than a month away, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah did contribute Liverpool’s goals. Liverpool seemed to be coasting but was stung twice at the end of the first half with Mateo Kovacic’s volley and Christian Pulisic’s strike pulling Chelsea level. It was an engrossing and wild game that was only tempered after the break by the goalkeeping of Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy denying Salah and Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher’s reflexes thwarting Pulisic’s pursuit of a winner. “For the public it must have been an unbelievable game,” said Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders, deputizing for coronavirus isolating Jurgen Klopp. It was a game to keep fans on their toes — which they could do legally in parts of a Premier League stadium for the first time in 28 years as part of standing trials. “It was a brilliant match,” Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said. “Everybody not in the stadium missed something.” None more so than Chelsea record-signing Romelu Lukaku who was dropped by Tuchel for an outburst questioning his limited role in the team. Only 15 seconds into the game, it looked like Mane might also have had no further role in the game. Elbowing Cesar Azpilicueta in the face while trying to beat the Chelsea captain, Mane immediately faced action from the referee. But he escaped with only a booking — the earliest recorded in a Premier League match. It meant Mane was still on the pitch to score the opener in the ninth minute. (SD-Agencies) | 