In a game that was expected to be centred around Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez, is was Raul Meireles who stole the headlines as Liverpool claimed a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge today.
The Portugese midfielder scored the only goal on what was a fantastic day for Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
The result completes a league double for the Reds over their rivals and makes it four successive victories for Kenny Dalglish, a sequence which has lifted his side to sixth in the Barclays Premier League.
While all eyes were on Torres, he was disapointing and didn't even last the 90 minutes, being substituted for Kalou with over 20 minutes remaining.
Dalglish once again decided to begin with Luis Suarez on the bench, who remained there for the full 90 minutes, whereas Carragher came back into the starting 11 after over 2 months out through injury.
Torres had chances on both 2 minutes, and 31 minutes, but failed to trouble Reina on both occasions, the highlight of his game.
On the 33rd minute, Steven Gerrard whipped a powerful cross through the face of goal only for Maxi to hit against the crossbar from 3 yards out.
The first half ended with more drama in the Chelsea penalty area when a Martin Kelly centre caused confusion between Petr Cech and Ivanovic, which almost ended in a fight between the pair of Chelsea players.
As the sides re-emerged for the second half, Torres appeared to gravitate towards his old teammates before realising his mistake and rejoining those in blue. It was yet another bizarre footprint on the 26 year old's journey from Merseyside to the capital.
It was Liverpool who probed first once the whistle had blown, a right-foot smack from Glen Johnson coming close to opening the scores. Drogba and Nicolas Anelka both had chances from there but the visiting defence was holding firm in its quest for a fourth consecutive clean sheet.
They did look vulnerable on 66 minutes having backed off Anelka before watching his well-struck effort whizz narrowly the wrong side of the post.
Carlo Ancelotti had seen enough and made the decision to withdraw Torres, who having swapped red for blue looked distinctly off colour.
The change almost paid immediate dividends when Michael Essien drove forward before lashing over the crossbar - and instead it was Liverpool who took the lead.
The goal arrived on 68 minutes when Chelsea's defenders failed to clear a Gerrard cross and allowed Meireles to hook into the net with his left foot at the back post.
His 4th goal in 5 games made him the only currently Liverpool player to have scored in the league at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues retaliated with an Anelka throughball to substitute Florent Malouda only for the France international to be thwarted by Reina.
It might have been 2-0 on 81 minutes when another substitute, Aurelio, turned John Terry in the box before having a rare right-foot hit palmed away by Cech.
In the end one goal proved enough to secure what was only Liverpool's third Stamford Bridge win of the Premier League era.
YNWA
The Portugese midfielder scored the only goal on what was a fantastic day for Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
The result completes a league double for the Reds over their rivals and makes it four successive victories for Kenny Dalglish, a sequence which has lifted his side to sixth in the Barclays Premier League.
While all eyes were on Torres, he was disapointing and didn't even last the 90 minutes, being substituted for Kalou with over 20 minutes remaining.
Dalglish once again decided to begin with Luis Suarez on the bench, who remained there for the full 90 minutes, whereas Carragher came back into the starting 11 after over 2 months out through injury.
Torres had chances on both 2 minutes, and 31 minutes, but failed to trouble Reina on both occasions, the highlight of his game.
On the 33rd minute, Steven Gerrard whipped a powerful cross through the face of goal only for Maxi to hit against the crossbar from 3 yards out.
The first half ended with more drama in the Chelsea penalty area when a Martin Kelly centre caused confusion between Petr Cech and Ivanovic, which almost ended in a fight between the pair of Chelsea players.
As the sides re-emerged for the second half, Torres appeared to gravitate towards his old teammates before realising his mistake and rejoining those in blue. It was yet another bizarre footprint on the 26 year old's journey from Merseyside to the capital.
It was Liverpool who probed first once the whistle had blown, a right-foot smack from Glen Johnson coming close to opening the scores. Drogba and Nicolas Anelka both had chances from there but the visiting defence was holding firm in its quest for a fourth consecutive clean sheet.
They did look vulnerable on 66 minutes having backed off Anelka before watching his well-struck effort whizz narrowly the wrong side of the post.
Carlo Ancelotti had seen enough and made the decision to withdraw Torres, who having swapped red for blue looked distinctly off colour.
The change almost paid immediate dividends when Michael Essien drove forward before lashing over the crossbar - and instead it was Liverpool who took the lead.
The goal arrived on 68 minutes when Chelsea's defenders failed to clear a Gerrard cross and allowed Meireles to hook into the net with his left foot at the back post.
His 4th goal in 5 games made him the only currently Liverpool player to have scored in the league at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues retaliated with an Anelka throughball to substitute Florent Malouda only for the France international to be thwarted by Reina.
It might have been 2-0 on 81 minutes when another substitute, Aurelio, turned John Terry in the box before having a rare right-foot hit palmed away by Cech.
In the end one goal proved enough to secure what was only Liverpool's third Stamford Bridge win of the Premier League era.
YNWA
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