Philippe Coutinho struck twice as Liverpool won 3-1 at Chelsea on Saturday to ratchet up the pressure yet further on the Premier League champion’s beleaguered manager Jose Mourinho.
Ramires put the hosts ahead in the fourth minute at Stamford Bridge, but Coutinho equalised in first-half stoppage time and put Liverpool ahead with a deflected shot in the 74th minute before substitute Christian Benteke rubber-stamped Chelsea’s sixth defeat in 11 league games.
While visiting manager Jurgen Klopp was left to celebrate his first league win — Liverpool’s first on the road since the season’s opening weekend — it was a Halloween nightmare for Mourinho, whose job is thought to be on the line after a run of just one win in eight matches in all competitions.
Some newspaper reports had even suggested that he could be dismissed in the event of another defeat and he was assailed with chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning!” by the away fans as the game wound down.
The result: Chelsea 1 (Ramires 4) lost to Liverpool 3 (Coutinho 45+3, 74, Benteke 83); Crystal Palace 0 drew with Manchester United 0; Manchester City 2 (Otamendi 67, Toure 89-pen) bt Norwich 1 (Jerome 83); Newcastle 0 drew with Stoke 0; Swansea 0 lost to Arsenal 3 (Giroud 49, Koscielny 68, Campbell 73); Watford 2 (Ighalo 39, 48) bt West Ham 0; West Brom 2 (Rondon 30, Lambert 84-pen) lost to Leicester 3 (Mahrez 57, 64, Vardy 77). — AFP