Chelsea beat champions Liverpool to boost top-5 push
Chelsea bolstered their bid to qualify for the Champions League with a 3-1 win as Liverpool suffered a Premier League title hangover at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Enzo Maresca's side took the lead through Enzo Fernandez's early strike at Stamford Bridge.
Jarell Quansah's second-half own goal was followed by Virgil van Dijk's late reply for Liverpool.
Cole Palmer's stoppage-time penalty condemned the champions to only their third league defeat this season.
While lacklustre Liverpool had little to play for after winning a record-equalling 20th English crown with a 5-1 rout of Tottenham last weekend, Chelsea had every incentive to secure a priceless three points.
"Very important, especially at this stage in the season. I'm very impressed with the players," Maresca said.
"We didn't plan to wait and defend deep but they forced us to do this and this showed why they won the Premier League because they are a top side."
Hoping to return to the Champions League via a top-five finish, the Blues sit in fifth, level on points with fourth-placed Newcastle, who drew 1-1 at Brighton earlier on Sunday.
Sixth-placed Nottingham Forest will join Chelsea and Newcastle on 63 points if they beat Crystal Palace on Monday.
Third-placed Manchester City are only one point clear of Chelsea and, with three games left, the top five battle is set for a thrilling finale.
"For sure, Chelsea has to fight for Champions League and hopefully in the future we can fight for something more important," Maresca said.
"In this moment we are there and hopefully we can finish there."
Chelsea are back in action in the UEFA Conference League semi-final second leg against Djurgardens on Thursday. The Blues hold a 4-1 lead that should be enough to send them to the first final of Maresca's reign.
Liverpool's only other league losses in a triumphant campaign came against Nottingham Forest in September and at Fulham in April.
On another fruitless trip to west London, Arne Slot's men played as though the title party had left them groggy.
"A wise man once said, 'Nothing good comes from winning a football game,' and I have to agree with him. The way we lost is more positive, I think," Slot said.
"If you look at how we reacted after being 2-0 down, we came back and we never gave up.
"It was against a great Chelsea team. Maybe we missed that little bit which we usually have."
Chelsea's players lined up to give Liverpool a guard of honour when the Reds walked onto the pitch before kick-off.
Lethargic Liverpool
The gesture of respect didn't go down so well with large sections of the Chelsea fanbase, who booed as Liverpool made their entrance.
It was a much-changed line-up that paraded through the divisive welcome after Slot rested Luis Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Andrew Robertson and Ibrahima Konate in a move that won't have gone down well with Chelsea's top-five rivals.
Liverpool supporters in one corner of Stamford Bridge revelled in their new status, chanting "champions" and waving banners with references to their 20 titles.
But it took just three minutes for Chelsea to take the lead as Pedro Neto's cross picked out Fernandez and the unmarked Argentine midfielder slotted home from eight yards with Liverpool's defence in disarray.
Noni Madueke was inches away from doubling Chelsea's advantage moments later, the winger scuffing his shot just wide of the far post after dancing through the Reds back four.
Maresca's men struck again in bizarre fashion in the 56th minute.
Palmer muscled his way past Kostas Tsimikas into the Liverpool area for a low cross that Madueke couldn't convert.
In the scramble that followed, Van Dijk made a hurried clearance that smacked into Quansah and rebounded into the net.
Van Dijk made partial amends when he thumped a header past Robert Sanchez from Mac Allister's 85th-minute corner.
But it was too late to save Liverpool from a rare defeat as Quansah tripped Moises Caicedo and Palmer converted the penalty for his first goal since January.