{"id":474469,"date":"2025-10-04T22:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T22:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/474469\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T22:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T22:00:14","slug":"chelseas-estevao-stuns-liverpool-with-last-gasp-winner-to-leave-arsenal-top-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/474469\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea\u2019s Est\u00eav\u00e3o stuns Liverpool with last-gasp winner to leave Arsenal top | Premier League"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been so much discussion about Chelsea\u2019s youthful indiscipline but in the end it was one of the kids who made a 45-year-old man lose control. It was a wild finale, Liverpool<\/a> run ragged, and when Estev\u00e3o Willian delivered the decisive blow deep into stoppage time it was the cue for Enzo Maresca to leave his technical area, charge down the touchline and join the mass of blue shirts as they celebrated in front of the disbelieving supporters in the Matthew Harding Stand.<\/p>\n

Liverpool were beaten, their knack for late shows turned against them for the second successive weekend, and it is unlikely that Maresca cared when Anthony Taylor showed him a second yellow card. Call it the sweetest sending off of the Italian\u2019s managerial career. Nobody will be casting doubt over his job security now. Not after witnessing the world champions make light of a recent stumble and an extensive injury list by producing a performance of grit and style to ensure that Liverpool ended a dreadful week with their third consecutive defeat in all competitions.<\/p>\n

If it feels premature to call it a crisis, it is certainly true that Liverpool must act quickly to reverse their slump. The response to looking up rather than down for the first time under Arne Slot will be fascinating. Do the champions rally after losing top spot to Arsenal<\/a> or do they fall into a decline reminiscent of Manchester City\u2019s struggles last season?<\/p>\n

The positive is that Slot is not the type to panic. Dissecting this defeat, the Dutchman pointed to the changes Liverpool went through in the summer. He was adamant that the misfiring duo of Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak will eventually develop an understanding.<\/p>\n

At the moment, though, the connections are lacking. Liverpool are suspect defensively, the void left by Trent Alexander-Arnold\u2019s departure at right-back has not been filled, the midfield is too open and there was not enough concerted pressure on a Chelsea<\/a> back four that contained three full-backs by full time.<\/p>\n

Isak did collect an assist midway through the second half, albeit with a heavy touch for Cody Gakpo to cancel out Mois\u00e9s Caicedo\u2019s stunning opener, but otherwise it was a listless display from the \u00a3125m striker. As for Salah, his shooting accuracy has rarely been worse. All of the forward\u2019s efforts went off target, although he was not alone in suffering. Liverpool struggled as a collective. Maresca\u2019s tactics outfoxed Slot in the first half and Chelsea\u2019s bench also made a huge difference during the last 15 minutes. Est\u00eav\u00e3o, the Brazilian sensation, had sparkled after coming on and was threatening to decide the game even before he popped up with his first goal since joining from Palmeiras.<\/p>\n

Mois\u00e9s Caicedo plays to the crowd after scoring a stunning opening goal for Chelsea. Photograph: Ian Stephen\/Action Plus\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

But one of Chelsea\u2019s best win under Maresca was not about individuals. This was a team effort. The unfamiliar central defensive partnership of Beno\u00eet Badiashile and Josh Acheampong excelled before being disrupted when both cramped up. Caicedo and Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez fought through fatigue to impress in midfield. Reece James was strong at right-back, then solid when he had to slot in at centre-back. Alejandro Garnacho, dangerous on the left, forced Slot to take Conor Bradley off at half-time.<\/p>\n

Systemic cracks remained apparent. Bradley was unnerved by Garnacho\u2019s willingness to run behind him, Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 and Virgil van Dijk were iffy and there were some nervy early touches from Giorgi Mamardashvili, making his league debut in goal because of Alisson\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

Little worked for Liverpool. Salah wasted opportunities to release Isak and there were structural problems in midfield, caused by Maresca\u2019s decision to put Malo Gusto rather than Reece James next to Caicedo and Fern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n

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Gusto was an energetic, highly effective pest. The Frenchman stuck to Alexis Mac Allister, preventing the Argentinian from instigating the buildup, and even made the opening goal when a quick ball round the corner to Caicedo exposed gaps in Liverpool\u2019s setup in the 14th minute.<\/p>\n

There was so much space for Caicedo that for a moment he looked unsure what to do with it. But when Van Dijk backed off there was only path to take. Caicedo delivered, ripping a screamer past Mamardashvili from 25 yards.<\/p>\n

A special goal to enliven a mundane half. Chelsea played it carefully, sitting back and launching counterattacks. Maresca had to be pleased when he saw Ryan Gravenberch misplacing passes. The one scare came from Salah crossing for Isak to head over but Chelsea looked strong and might even have had a penalty when Dominik Szoboszlai tangled with Garnacho. Maresca being booked for his furious appeal was not the best look given that his young side keep getting red cards.<\/p>\n

Chelsea needed to maintain their composure. They wanted a second yellow for Bradley when the right-back fouled Garnacho. Taylor\u2019s leniency allowed Slot to bring Florian Wirtz on<\/a> for Bradley at half-time and task Szoboszlai with dealing with Garnacho.<\/p>\n

Wirtz was immediately involved, releasing Salah, who shot wide. Chelsea fell back. Badiashile went off for Rom\u00e9o Lavia. Acheampong made way for Jorrel Hato, another 19-year-old. Liverpool also had problems. Konat\u00e9 limping off saw Gravenberch drop into defence.<\/p>\n

The Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, was sent off for joining in the celebration of his side\u2019s late winner against Liverpool. Photograph: David Klein\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The level of Liverpool\u2019s play was low. They were level when Szoboszlai\u2019s deflected cross reached Isak, whose attempt to turn and shoot became the perfect assist for Gakpo, who arrived to beat Robert S\u00e1nchez. Chelsea, though, were defiant. They found a second wind when Maresca brought on Est\u00eav\u00e3o, Jamie Gittens and Marc Guiu. Estev\u00e3o and Gittens went close. Fern\u00e1ndez headed against a post from an Estev\u00e3o cross. No matter. Chelsea roared back. Marc Cucurella delivered a low ball, Andy Robertson fell asleep at the far post, Estev\u00e3o slid in to score, Maresca set off on his run and Slot was left wondering whether his big rebuild is going to click.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There has been so much discussion about Chelsea\u2019s youthful indiscipline but in the end it was one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,12,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-474469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115318150034980960","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}