Chelsea beat champions Liverpool to boost top five push

London: Chelsea bolstered their bid to qualify for the Champions League with a 3 1 win as Liverpool suffered a Premier League title hangover at Stamfo...

London: Chelsea bolstered their bid to qualify for the Champions League with a 3-1 win as Liverpool suffered a Premier League title hangover at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Enzo Maresca's side took the lead through Enzo Fernandez's early strike at Stamford Bridge. Jarell Quansah's second half own goal was followed by Virgil van Dijk's late reply for Liverpool. Cole Palmer's stoppage-time penalty condemned the champions to only their third league defeat this season. While lacklustre Liverpool had little to play for after winning a record-equalling 20th English crown with a 5-1 rout of Tottenham last weekend, Chelsea had every incentive to secure a priceless three points.

"Very important, especially at this stage in the season. I'm very impressed with the players," Maresca said. "We didn't plan to wait and defend deep but they forced us to do this and this showed why they won the Premier League because they are a top side." Hoping to return to the Champions League via a top five finish, the Blues sit in fifth, level on points with fourth-placed Newcastle who drew 1-1 at Brighton earlier on Sunday.

Chelsea are back in action in the UEFA Conference League semi-final second leg against Djurgardens on Thursday. The Blues hold a 4-1 lead that should be enough to send them to the first final of Maresca's reign. Liverpool's only other league losses in a triumphant campaign came against Nottingham Forest in September and at Fulham in April. On another fruitless trip to west London, Arne Slot's men played as though the title party had left them groggy. "A wise man once said, nothing good comes from winning a football game and I have to agree with him. The way we lost is more positive, I think," Slot said.

"If you look at how we reacted after being 2-0 down, we came back and we never gave up. It was against a great Chelsea team. Maybe we missed that little bit which we usually have."