Capital One Cup :Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1

It was what one might call a Michael Owen moment. Maybe a Jimmy Greaves moment for those who go back a little longer. Raheem Sterling turned and ran, straight at the heart of the Chelsea defence. You know, like the great goalscorers do.

In that instant of pure acceleration nobody could live with him. Not Nemanja Matic, the stand-out defensive midfield player of this season, not Gary Cahill who appeared to be running through quick-drying cement by comparison. Sterling, having dropped deep to receive the pass, was now reaching top gear as he hit the penalty area, yet he didn’t look at all hurried. 

As Thibaut Courtois began his advance he slipped the ball smartly past him and into the far corner. It was a gem of a goal, worthy of winning any match. That is only achieved parity for Liverpool is testament to Chelsea’s defensive resilience. It was going to take something exceptional to breach that defence, and Sterling provided it.

Credit, too, to his manager Brendan Rodgers. After the Christmas and New Year fixtures he gave Sterling time off to recharge his batteries, as promised. Some mocked. Who do they think they are these softy footballers, unable to play a full season without taking off to the Caribbean? And how foolish is this mug of a manager to fall for it? Yet Sterling played as if revived. He was a proper handful, buzzing around Chelsea’s back line, desperately trying to make up for the absence of a genuine striker in Liverpool’s ranks.

With Daniel Sturridge still absent it speaks volumes that Rodgers prefers Sterling to either Rickie Lambert or Mario Balotelli. Certainly it is hard to imagine either of his rivals scoring a goal of that quality on current form.

Credit also to Chelsea, however. We say the art of defending is dead yet Jose Mourinho has moulded a team here that appear to relish it. They scored from their one shot on TARGET in the first-half and held strong against a mighty Liverpool onslaught after half-time. 

A lesser team would have buckled. Instead, Courtois justified Mourinho’s faith in restoring him to the team the moment he was free of injury. He saved from Philippe Coutinho in the 67th minute, from Jordan Henderson after 75 minutes and from Sterling again when he tried to capitalise on the rebound a second later.

Courtois most certainly rode his luck soon after when, in gathering the ball under pressure from Sterling, he began to slide out of his area and regained control of the ball with his elbow. It should have been a free-kick in a dangerous area, but referee Martin Atkinson waved it away. Moments later, the Belgian made amends with a quite magnificent stop from Sterling. 

Without him, this match could have got away from Chelsea. They will most certainly have felt greatly relieved when Steven Gerrard shot against the post after 66 minutes. Coutinho set him up and the goal was open in front of The Kop. Perhaps he tried to place it too perfectly. 

With the momentum of a Gerrard goal at the right end, Liverpool’s head of steam may have proved unstoppable.

He may still be special to them, but the Chelsea travelling contingent do not hang on Jose Mourinho’s every utterance like they used to. His plea to lay off Gerrard, for instance, went not so much unheeded as flagrantly abused.

The game hadn’t even kicked off when the blue corner began taunting Liverpool’s captain about the famous slip. The home fans immediately replied with their tribute and at one point in the first-half the entire ground was singing Gerrard’s name, with DEGREES of appreciation at each end of the scale. 

Gerrard has heard it all before, of course, and as expected no man did more to try to get Liverpool’s noses in front. This being his last season at Anfield there is almost an entire area of The Kop reserved for Gerrard-related banners. 

'The best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be,' said the largest, and most poetic – although it’s a depressing thought if the best Liverpool will ever have retires without a league championship WINNERS medal. A more attainable ambition was contained in the message ‘Get Gerrard to Wembley’. As usual, though, if you want anything done properly do it yourself, and the duties of propelling Liverpool forward fell to the usual suspect again.

It was Gerrard who forced the only two saves from Thibaut Courtois in the first-half, Gerrard who got booked for legging over Eden Hazard, Gerrard who was involved in just about every Liverpool move that was memorable or incisive. 

Only when Jordan Henderson had a shot blocked having been played in by Sterling after 12 minutes, did Liverpool fashion a chance without Gerrard’s hope. The effect of his absence next season is close to incalculable.