There was one man who would have made Thomas Tuchel sit up and pay attention if he had watched this big Premier League match.

There were six English players in the starting lineup for his old team, Chelsea, but Curtis Jones of Liverpool was the one who caught his eye.

It’s strange that Scouser Jones hasn’t won a full England cap yet, even though he is 23 years old and has been a steady first-team player at Anfield for five years.

Curtis Jones celebrating his winner in a match full of VAR dramaCredit: PA

Jones beat the offside trap to restore Liverpool’s lead on 51 minutes

If Jones has many more games like this, Tuchel, the new manager of the Three Lions, will not ignore him.

Jones not only scored the game-winning goal early in the second half, which put Liverpool back on top of the table, but he also won the penalty for Mo Salah’s first goal, was given a second penalty kick, and played a great game all around.

Liverpool won their seventh straight game in all competitions and their 10th in 11 games under Arne Slot. They regained their one-point lead over winners Manchester City at the start of a tough stretch of games.

Chelsea lost after going seven games without losing, but Enzo Maresca’s team played well and showed why he is making Stamford Bridge a better place to be.

 

Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez often spit poison at each other when these two clubs were rivals, but neither Slot nor Maresca seems likely to do that now.

 

Nicolas Jackson slotted Chelsea level, after an offside ruling was overturned

Both new managers got off to good starts, but it was helped that their schedules weren’t too tough.

 

Maresca was glad to see captain Reece James return from an injury that kept him out for almost a year. Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo were also brought in for a rare start, as both midfielders turned down Liverpool to play for the Blues last year.

The ref, John Brooks, was the center of attention from the start, and things got rough and stormy.

 

First, Tosin Adarabioyo tripped Diogo Jota just inside the Chelsea half. However, because Levi Colwill was there to protect the Chelsea defender, he only got a yellow card and didn’t get sent off like Arsenal’s William Saliba did the day before.

Next After a collision with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jadon Sancho went down, but Brooks did not give him a penalty. Early on, Chelsea played some cool stuff.

 

While giving kittens to Andy Robertson, Noni Madueke set up Cole Palmer for a shot, but Jones stopped it. But then the Liverpool fans started yelling for a penalty.

 

Will Smith put pressure on Salah and he went down, but the Egyptian was too clear in his desire for a penalty kick.

 

For dissent, Slot got a yellow card, but he didn’t have to wait long for his spot-kick challenge against Colwill to be accepted.

 

Colwill tripped Jones this time, and Brooks pointed to the spot. Salah scored, beating Robert Sanchez and making it look like Chelsea was trying to delay the game.

Tosin Adarabioyo escaped with a yellow card for this challenge on Diogo JotaCredit: X

Robert Sanchez couldn’t keep out Mo Salah’s penalty opener

It was Salah’s seventh goal of the season and a slap in the face for the club that let him leave so early in his career.

 

Jota was replaced by Darwin Nunez because he was having a hard time after getting hurt early on. However, Liverpool soon thought they had doubled their lead.

 

Sanchez missed a kick that put pressure on Chelsea, and an offside flag stopped a nice move from Jones to Salah to Cody Gakpo, who scored at the back post.

 

Nicolas Jackson fired a shot that just missed the near post when he should have been aiming across the goal, which made Maresca very angry.

In extra time in the first half, Nunez slipped a ball to Jones. Jones turned and knuckled Tosin, but Sanchez was there to stop him.

 

VAR Michael Oliver showed Brooks that Sanchez touched the ball before the player, so he had to point to the spot again.

 

The ref on the field agreed with his more senior colleague in Stockley Park, but Sanchez got lucky because it was a subjective call, and the “light touch” VAR method seems to be dying out, as most refereeing rules do.

 

Before the break, Madueke made fun of Robertson again and set up Palmer for a shot that went wide.Liverpool should have taken note of that shot, but they didn’t, and Chelsea quickly tied the game at the start of the second.

 

Jackson ran at the right time to meet Caicedo’s through ball and drilled a shot past Caoimhin Kelleher. However, Oliver had to make another mistaken offside call.

 

But Slot’s men went back to work right away and took the lead again in 76 seconds.

 

Jones raced to the back post to meet Salah’s low cross, and he beat the offside trap, controlled the ball, and poked it past Sanchez.

 

Before the game, Maresca replaced Sancho with Pedro Neto. After the break, he made three more changes, putting on Enzo Fernandez, Benoit Badiashile, and Renato Veiga.

But Liverpool was smart about how they handled their small lead.

 

Jones left ten minutes before the end of the game to a standing applause. Tuchel may have even gotten up from his couch to cheer him on.