Chelsea came back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a point in a pulsating 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday, but neither side’s chances of reaching Manchester City at the top of the Premier League improved.

City now leads Chelsea by ten points, with Liverpool a point behind, although with a game in hand.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was absent, as were three key players, due to positive coronavirus cases, but the Reds still raced to a two-goal lead thanks to parting gifts from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah before departing for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel made the audacious decision to release record signing Romelu Lukaku after the Belgian attacker expressed his displeasure at being used sparingly by the German.

Thanks to Mateo Kovacic’s stunning strike and Christian Pulisic, the Blues still had enough firepower to fight back before halftime.

However, Chelsea has now won just one of their last five league games, while Liverpool has taken only two points from their last three games, allowing City to race to a fourth title in five seasons.

An exciting 90-minute match that raged from start to finish took just six seconds to begin when Mane was lucky to escape with only a yellow card for an elbow on Cesar Azpilicueta.

Due to Covid infections, Liverpool was without goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Joel Matip, and Roberto Firmino.

Caoimhin Kelleher, Alisson’s understudy, showed his value by saving an early one-on-one with Pulisic.

Chelsea’s annoyance at Mane’s reprieve was compounded when the Senegalese took advantage of Trevoh Chalobah’s error to round international teammate Edouard Mendy and score his first goal in ten games.

Salah stunned the crowd at Stamford Bridge with a stunning moment of quality to double Liverpool’s lead.

The Egyptian received a pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold, advanced past Marcos Alonso, and slotted the ball in at Mendy’s near post for his 23rd goal of the season.

Chelsea were then granted a disciplinary reprieve when Mason Mount was not punished following a VAR review for kicking out at Kostas Tsimikas.

That proved crucial, as the European champions responded with two goals in four minutes to tie the game at halftime.

Pulisic made amends for his earlier miss by lifting the ball over Kelleher with Liverpool still reeling.

Mount came close to completing the comeback in first-half stoppage time, but his shot went wide.

The pace did not slow down in the second half, and only the goalkeepers kept the game scoreless.

Mendy had to go all out to stop Diogo Jota, Salah, and Mane.

Kelleher, on the other hand, reacted well to Pulisic’s powerful effort.

However, a share of the spoils meant that City were the true weekend winners after defeating fourth-placed Arsenal 2-1 on Saturday.