Chelsea came from a goal down to beat Liverpool at Stamford Bridge as Jose Mourinho prevails over his prodigy Brendan Rodgers. Eden Hazard, who was Man of the Match, inspired the Blues with a stunning strike to equalize in the 18th minute after Liverpool had scored in 3 minutes. Then, it was Samuel Eto’o who scored the winner in the first half after a brilliant team play down the right through Azpilicueta and David Luiz.

We have many interesting yet focal points to discuss here as Mourinho engineered a brilliant tactic to see the Blues stop dangerous forward Luiz Suarez from scoring. David Luiz did amazing in midfield for the first time under Jose Mourinho and Azpilicueta prevailed in his natural RB role after Ivanovic was substituted off for Ashley Cole in the first half. Here are the main talking points from the game in this edition of what we learned:

Eden Hazard was totally incredible; well deserved MotM: 

The Belgian was in top form through out the 90 minutes and he earned Jose Mourinho’s team an important win and 3 points that will prove influential in the title race come the end of the season. He scored an incredible curler to the far post for the equalizer and looked to create dangers in the counter through out the 2nd half. His all around display has immensely improved under Jose Mourinho this season as he is improving his numbers tally by being the team’s top scorer this season.

David Luiz prevailed in midfield role yet again:

The Brazilian earned a chance to play in the holding midfield role alongside Lampard since Ramires was suspended for the game with 5 bookings this season in the league. Luiz was superb through out the game by winning headers, clearing dangers and not allowing any balls to go into the path of Suarez either from Allen or Coutinho. Not only in defense, the Brazilian was influential in the build-up of the 2nd goal for the Blues as shown below with the interchange to Azpilicueta who sent in the cross to Oscar.

This is a great performance by Luiz and Jose Mourinho will from now on look into the Brazilian for some inspiration in midfield when there is someone missing with injury or suspension. The Portuguese manager joked after the game with Hazard and Luiz; He told the Brazilian he is suspended for the next game and is  free to go to Portugal for the new year! Jose’s boys are loving his adoring personality and it was a great moment to watch on Sky Sports after the game.

Another solid partnership between Cahill and John Terry:

The two English center backs were solid through out the 90 mins as they stopped Luis Suarez into getting even an attempt and force a save from Cech. Roy Hodgson might be hopping inside to see Terry come out of retirement and partner with Cahill in the Three lions back-line in the world cup this summer. But, Jose Mourinho must fully be satisfied with his back-line as the festive period brought in 7 points with two clean sheets. Never a better testament than Mourinho’s teams for the saying in English football, “Strikers win you matches but, your defense wins you the league.”

Referees should punish players who dive easily **Suarez**: 

As Jose Mourinho pointed out after the game, the easiest way to deal with Suarez was to book him. The Portuguese was pointing the same things after the Arsenal game angered by some foreign Arsenal players diving and ‘provocating a situation’ to win a free-kick or a penalty. This was the quote from Jose after the game…

“I would resolve the situation with Suarez very easily with a yellow card.

“I hate players who try to [provoke] situations. Luis is an amazing player and I have lots of respect for his quality and his attitude and his ambition to try and win every game.But he tries too much to try and provoke these situations.

“He lost his duel with (Cesar) Azpilicueta and then Eto’o comes and puts his body in front. Suarez looks like somebody shot him in the back. For me that is a clear yellow card.”

Mourinho was absolutely correct with his assessment of such situations and players mostly from South America and some from Spain are more involved in such play-acting situation with Suarez the prime example of such bad sportsmanship in today’s game. A shame from such a talented forward as him who can claim as arguably the best Striker in the world in this moment in time.

The league challenge is well on track for the Blues to win!

Just three points separate the top 3 sides in the premier league at this moment with Arsenal leading ahead of Man City and Chelsea with just a point at the top. Mourinho has said more than once Manchester City are the title favorites but, if we manage to get a good result at the Etihad in our 2nd fixture and beat Arsenal at the Bridge, we can surely assert our title challenge to win by the end of May. That would make an incredible season in Mourinho’s return to west London and retain his domestic dominance over his foes in England.

Thanks for reading everyone and hope you enjoyed my points. Congrats on the well earned win against big rivals Liverpool to extend our lead to 4 points against Rodgers’ team. Comment and let us know what you think. Follow me on twitter (@FahmiCFC) and KTBFFH!!