Chelsea's 86-game unbeaten home record was ended by bitter rivals Liverpool on Saturday at Stamford Bridge in a game that established the Reds as serious title contenders in the Premiership this season.

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari also suffered the first defeat in the league under his reign, but took pains to clarify that Chelsea were still a good team. Chelsea had not been beaten at home since February 2004 when Arsenal beat them 2-1. However Liverpool deserved this win as they controlled the game for large periods of time.

The game itself was intensely contested as games between these two teams usually are. Nicolas Anelka started off with an incisive move in the 3rd minute of the game, but he was tackled before he could fire. Deco had time to take a shot, but it was deflected away.

Liverpool took the lead in the ninth minute through Xabi Alonso when Dirk Kuyt's back-header was inadequately cleared by John Terry. Alonso found the ball on the edge of the penalty area and his shot bounded into the goal through a lucky deflection off Jose Bosingwa.

Albert Riera then beat Bosingwa in the 17th minute, but his shot only found the side netting. Liverpool were looking dangerous and were dominating the game in Chelsea's half by now. Bosingwa tried to get into the Liverpool penalty area on 21 minutes, but his run was halted by Riera who was booked for his efforts.

Steven Gerrard volleyed hard in the 24th minute forcing Petr Cech to make a fine save. Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher were always on hand to stop any moves from Chelsea although Bosingwa continued to work hard from the flanks.

The second half started with Chelsea dominating possession, but they were unable to get past Carragher. Malouda and Kalou were replaced by Juliano Belletti and Franco Di Santo, but the pair could not have any impact on the game and Liverpool wrapped up a famous win that could prove to be a turning point in this season's title race.