Chelsea FC Vs. Liverpool FC: Raul Miereles The Hero, Ruins Fernando Torres’s Chelsea Debut

The story at the beginning of the match was Fernando Torres, making his Chelsea debut against Liverpool, his former club. At the end of the match, the lingering story may be the chants the Spaniard heard as he left the pitch, subbed-off in the 66th minute. While "you should have stayed with a real club" is an exaggeration, you can't fault a Reds' supporter's revenge, retribution served when Raul Miereles gave Liverpool a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge.

The goal came three minutes after Torres gave way to Salomon Kalou, a defensive breakdown from Chelsea that gave new context to a first half disagreement between goalkeeper and defender. Then, Petr Cech and Branislav Ivanovic were seen yelling at each other after miscommunication bred confusion while playing a cross from the right. In the 69th minute, a Steven Gerrard cross saw both Cech and Ivanovic hesitate, the bounding cross passing across goal onto an unmarked Miereles for the match's only goal.

The goal was emblematic of how the match was played. Although Chelsea saw most of the ball and spend the greater part of the match going forward, they asked few questions of Pepe Reina, the return of Jamie Carragher emboldening a Liverpool defense that silenced Torres and Drogba. The former Red had two early chances, the second of which was snuffed-out be a sliding Carragher. Drogba, however, never threatened.

Ultimately, Chelsea was never able to crack the 3-6-1 formation Kenny Dalglish hammered-out on Wednesday. With three days to develop a plan to attack Liverpool's new set-up, Ancelotti deployed a formation that played right into Liverpool's hands. Chelsea's two central strikers were outmanned by the Red's three central defenders, while Nicolas Anelka's play in the hole was nullified by Liverpool's midfield.

With the win, Liverpool vaults into sixth place, now only six points behind the Champions League spot Chelsea holds. The Blues, kept on 44 points, are even with fifth place Tottenham, five points behind third place Manchester City.