Brendan Rodgers said Liverpool’s Capital One Cup semi-final display left him in no doubt they can win the second leg at Chelsea next week, when Daniel Sturridge may make his long-awaited return from injury.
The Liverpool manager was aggrieved at the 1-1 scoreline and the referee Martin Atkinson’s refusal to award his team a penalty when Diego Costa handled. Chelsea’s outstanding goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, also escaped sanction for handling outside his area as he gathered from Liverpool’s goalscorer, Raheem Sterling.
Otherwise, and in contrast to José Mourinho, who lamented Chelsea’s carelessness in possession, Rodgers was emboldened by a Liverpool performance he claimed had set a benchmark for the remainder of the season.
Eden Hazard gave Chelsea the lead from the penalty spot having been up-ended by Emre Can but Mourinho’s side were restricted to only two shots all game. Their average in the Premier League this season is 16 and their previous lowest tally was five.
“I thought we were outstanding,” Rodgers said. “Chelsea will probably be happy with the draw because we definitely deserved to win. It was a big performance from us. It is always difficult against Chelsea because they sit in a low block, the spaces are closed and, especially if you go behind, they know how to defend. They will be happier in terms of the scoreline but I am happy our performance levels are improving all of the time.
“I was confident we could win at Stamford Bridge and that has reinforced it even more. You see how good we were defensively, we were aggressive and compact and they have got top-class players. I thought the performance was a benchmark. There is no doubt we can go to the second leg and get the performance and the result we need.”
Mourinho was satisfied with the outcome, given that his side will enjoy home advantage in next Tuesday’s second leg, but not with the performance from his Premier League leaders.
The Chelsea manager said: “It is a two-legged semi-final and now it becomes a one leg semi-final at Stamford Bridge. We have to win and Liverpool have to win a one legged semi-final at Stamford Bridge. Obviously Liverpool didn’t deserve to lose but I got frustrated because we had lots of situations where we recovered the ball in a low block.
“We recovered the ball so many times, we faced three defenders in a tactical system, with lots of space to counterattack and Eden, Willian and Diego in great positions, but we lose so many passes. Recover the ball, lose the ball. It was exactly the opposite of what happened [in the 5-0 win] against Swansea. That frustrated me.”
Rodgers bemoaned Atkinson’s refusal to award Liverpool a first-half penalty or to dismiss Chelsea’s goalkeeper for carrying the ball outside his box. He said: “I was so disappointed we never got at least one penalty. It is a clear handball by Costa so I don’t know how we didn’t get that. Their goalkeeper, who had to be outstanding, also handballed it outside the area.”
The Liverpool manager suggested Sturridge, who has been absent since August with calf and thigh injuries, could be involved against his former club at Stamford Bridge. “Daniel has really kicked on in his rehab,” Rodgers said. “He has done really well in training today so we will see how he does between now and then.”
Mourinho would not be drawn on whether Chelsea are favourites to reach Wembley and claimed “it is too difficult” to win a clean sweep of domestic trophies in one season. He also insisted there was no difficulty in dropping Petr Cech back to the bench despite the goalkeeper’s impressive recent form during Courtois’ absence through injury.
“The Premier League is full of top goalkeepers but we have the two best so for me it is so easy,” he said. “To have both playing so well and giving so much confidence to the team that the players don’t care who is playing, that is fantastic. I decide who is playing according to the profile of the game we are expecting. I think the best three keepers in the world are Petr, Courtois and [Manuel] Neuer, and Courtois is 22 years old.”