Luis Suarez cancelled out John Terry's first-half opener to earn Liverpool a point against Chelsea in the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Roberto Di Matteo's side almost forced an opening in the sixth minute when Oscar caught Joe Allen in possession and found himself through on goal, but ballooned his shot.
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Liverpool dominated the early possession but were wasteful up front, and Chelsea punished them for it in the 20th minute.
Brendan Rodgers's side were woefully ineffective at defending an Oscar corner, and Blues defender Terry leaped up unmarked to head beyond Brad Jones for 1-0.
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Fernando Torres had the opportunity to put one past his former club on 26 minutes when Eden Hazard lined him up in the danger area, but directed his shot straight at Jones.
Liverpool had their first clear-cut chance on the half-hour mark through Nuri Sahin, but the midfielder dragged his shot across the face of Petr Cech's goal.
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Terry's afternoon came to a premature end when he picked up an injury in a challenge with Luis Suarez. The former England skipper had to be replaced by Gary Cahill after picking up what looked like a nasty knee injury.
Chelsea should have gone 2-0 up early in the second half when Juan Mata got the better of Jamie Carragher and bore down on goal, only to spray his effort over the bar.
Liverpool, who struggled to create anything in front of goal, were fortunate the deficit remained at 1-0. Mata and Torres both came close for The Blues during a spell of heavy bombardment on the Liverpool goal.
Torres came agonisingly close on the hour mark, almost getting his toe to a Ryan Bertrand cross that drifted across the face of goal.
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Liverpool equalised against the run of play on 71 minutes. Carragher nodded on a Suso corner and Suarez pounced at the back post to head his side level.
The Reds grew in confidence after finding the net and ventured forward. Raheem Sterling played in Suso in the 84th minute, but the Spaniard couldn't find the target.
Chelsea almost grabbed the winner they deserved three minutes before the end when Branislav Ivanovic headed Hazard's corner narrowly over, while Cech denied Suarez in a one-on-one situation at moments later.
There was still time for Hazard to try his luck at the death, but Chelsea were left ruing their missed chances come the final whistle.
Mark Langshaw
