Chelsea Midfielder’s Reaction Sparks Jota’s Fury

Liverpool’s third defeat of the Premier League season was undoubtedly the least significant as the newly-crowned champions were beaten 3-1 by Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

As Cole Palmer tucked away a stoppage-time penalty to seal a big victory for the Champions League-chasing Chelsea, the Reds fans could be seen celebrating almost as wildly as those in the home ends, as the title party continued in west London.

Here, as ever, the ECHO rounds up the best moments missed from a rare defeat for Arne Slot’s champions in the Premier League.

Lavia gets the message

Romeo Lavia was once a transfer target of Liverpool before he signed for Chelsea for around £50m in the summer of 2023.

Such was the Reds desire to land the Belgium international from Southampton that they had a couple of bids rejected before Chelsea matched the asking price and the former Manchester City midfielder agreed to move to Stamford Bridge.

It’s perhaps unfair to place Lavia in the same boat as Chelsea colleague, Moises Caicedo who had the choice of both clubs that same summer before moving to west London from Brighton, but Reds fans still made sure they reminded their former target of the apparent error of his ways.

As Lavia made his exit in the second half, he was forced to walk past the Liverpool fans who reminded him, in no uncertain terms, that he ‘should have chosen the champions’.

It was a chant that Lavia saw the funny side of and he couldn’t suppress his laughter as he made his way towards the tunnel.

Given the fortunes of the two clubs since those days of August 2023, however, it’s hard to disagree with the Liverpool fans.

Jota fumes

It was a day of frustration for many in Liverpool red, even if the defeat was cosmetic only. And few toiled like Diogo Jota, who barely had a sniff of goal before his second-half exit for Darwin Nunez.

The Portugal international was incensed when he was judged to have fouled Trevor Chalobah in the second half, immediately turning to the referee’s assistant and angrily declaring that he had in fact used his shoulder for the incident on the halfway line.

Jota’s protestations cut little ice and that was pretty much how it went for the Reds striker, who enjoyed a fruitless day before his eventual exit.

He drinks sangria

It’s 20 years this month since Liverpool beat Chelsea in a Champions League semi-final with one of the most controversial goals of the modern era, via Luis Garcia.

The ‘ghost goal’ – struck early on in the second leg at Anfield – was judged to have crossed the line but it’s a decision that still rankles with Jose Mourinho, John Terry and everyone else involved for Chelsea that night.

And Liverpool fans in the away end couldn’t resist dusting off their classic terrace anthem for Garcia at Stamford Bridge, reminding their opponents of the Spaniard’s place in both clubs’ respective history in the European Cup.

There were 15 minutes on the clock when Reds fans started telling anyone who was listening about Luis Garcia, drinking sangria. It was a chant that was likely not lost on the home fans.

A life’s work for nothing!

Having gone level with Manchester United’s tally of 20 league titles last week, there was a brand new banner on show at Stamford Bridge, harking back to that famous rivalry between the two clubs.

Having made it his career mission to knock Liverpool “off their f****** perch” as the infamous phrase goes, Alex Ferguson might have been forgiven for feeling a little uneasy at the sight of the Reds going level with his former club last week.

But the great Scot will surely have been downright aghast at the banner at Stamford Bridge that depicted the Liver Bird standing on the face of Ferguson with the phrase: “A life’s work for nothing!”

Liverpoolecho.co.uk