How Chelsea's 'brothers' delivered a masterclass in the dark arts - proving their title credentials

With Cesar Azpilicueta down on the floor, clutching his face, there was the sight of Thiago Silva a few yards away. The Brazilian veteran’s boots were securely on his feet but he crouched down and pulled at the laces, before doing them back up again.

Just a few more seconds were eaten away as Chelsea were within sight of a draw that felt like a victory when they boarded the bus at Anfield.

Moments earlier, Azpilicueta had not been touched above the shoulder as he bumped shoulders with Sadio Mane but he made sure the clock ticked on by holding his face to suggest something serious occurred.

It is no wonder that Thomas Tuchel described his team as playing like “brothers”. They were on the same page as they ran down the clock and kept Liverpool at bay with a display that confirmed them as Premier League title contenders.

With 90 seconds remaining Antonio Rudiger went down with cramp and needed Edouard Mendy to assist him back to his feet. "It's a terribly contagious disease, 92nd-minute cramp," said the commentator during match coverage on Chelsea’s official website.

Mendy himself was a master at using up 30 seconds to take a goal-kick, timed perfectly to avoid sanction from referee Anthony Taylor but to puncture the tempo of Liverpool’s attacks as they looked to take advantage of Reece James’ dismissal. The Chelsea goalkeeper had been booked himself for a melee with Liverpool players after booting the ball away when Mohamed Salah’s penalty equalised.

Chelsea did not get crowned European champions three months ago without a ruthless streak and it was shown at Anfield as they took a memorable point. Some might call it the dark arts, although every Premier League team does it now. Chelsea were just masters of it at Anfield.

Even as Salah was preparing to cancel out Kai Havertz’s opener, Jorginho was in his eyeline and within earshot, testing whether his opponent had the nerve to take penalties as coolly as he does. From the moment Salah scored it was backs-to-the-wall from Chelsea.

Their result came with Mendy and Rudiger on yellow cards after getting reduced to 10 men moments earlier for James’ handball on the line. "It's too much....it's too much," yelled Tuchel at fourth official Craig Pawson.

They also had Thiago making his first appearance since the Copa America final in July, but reading the game perfectly in the heart of Chelsea’s defence which switched to a 5-3-1 formation after James went.

Klopp laughed at the stoppages before showing anger. Midway through the second a bottle on the pitch ate away at a few seconds, all adding up and contributing to the result. Their two half-time subs meant only one towards the end of the game, with Jorginho slowly walking off after another excellent performance.

“I am almost dead,” said Jorginho of his efforts. “It was tough because when you are a man down at 1-1 for 45 minutes with the atmosphere it is very hard not to concede. It’s a big challenge and we did it, so it was a big team effort. We are proud of what we did because we showed that we know that we can suffer sometimes and we can fight.”

Tuchel clenched his fist at the full-time whistle before congratulating his backroom staff, then his players. The German believes the first dropped points of the season is actually as valuable as a victory.

“It was that we played like brothers and we could rely on each other. That was the case in the first three matches and this result, this was the proof,” he said.

“We deserved a little bit of luck to overcome some difficult situations and from here we need to go. When I tell you we need to take care of the process, we have to take care about the spirit and play again in the next match because there is a long, long way to go

“You can only play in the Premier League if you are a strong group and if you have the spirit to overcome difficulties and obstacles. Experiences like this is maybe the toughest question you can get asked in world football: at Liverpool, one man down for 45 minutes and defending with the Kop on your back.

“It says that at the moment we have what it takes, we have the spirit, it says we have to take care about it, it says we are in a good way, nothing more nothing less.”

Liverpool suffered a blow with Roberto Firmino picking up a hamstring injury that requires a scan but a positive from the match was another start for Harvey Elliott, who has been called up for the England Under-21s and looks at home in Jurgen Klopp’s starting line-up.

“I'm just thankful for the coaching staff and for the team for believing in me and giving me these opportunities,” Elliott said. “When you're on the pitch you've just got to focus.

“I think we had chances in the first half that we should have scored, or could have got shots away or created even more, to be honest. It was just all the same messages before the game.

“We tried to give it all we could in the second half but we knew they were going to come out and be defensive, defend and shut up shop really. We knew it was going to be hard to break down and unfortunately we just couldn't do it.”