Rio Ngumoha performance raises questions for Arne Slot after Liverpool lose control against Chelsea

Rio Ngumoha dazzles at Anfield but Chelsea fight back to expose Liverpool flaws in chaotic draw

Six minutes into the game at Anfield, it already felt like one of those afternoons where a teenager announces himself properly.

Rio Ngumoha had twisted away from defenders, frightened Chelsea’s right side almost every time he touched the ball, and helped create the opening goal for Ryan Gravenberch. Liverpool looked electric. Chelsea looked rattled. And for a brief spell, it genuinely felt like the entire contest had already tilted decisively in one direction.

Football, of course, has a habit of laughing at early conclusions.

Liverpool flew out of the blocks

The opening goal came quickly and carried the kind of energy Anfield feeds on. Ngumoha, only 17 and playing with the sort of fearless confidence older players spend entire careers trying to rediscover, drove at Malo Gusto and caused immediate panic.

Moments later, Gravenberch found space to shoot after a simple touch opened up the angle. Ally McCoist, on commentary, praised the technique behind it, saying: “It’s a great strike but it’s all about the first touch.”

Truthfully, the finish looked better in real time than it did on replay.

From behind the goal, the bigger story quickly became Filip Jorgensen’s attempt to stop it. The Chelsea goalkeeper’s footwork was awkward, his timing worse.

By the time he launched into the dive, he was already off balance and the shot travelled past him without needing to find the corner.

McCoist summed it up bluntly enough afterwards: “It’s in the middle of the goal.”

For Jorgensen, it was another difficult moment in what has become a rough period personally and collectively for Chelsea.

The mistake that changed Chelsea’s season?

This was Jorgensen’s first start since the error against Paris Saint-Germain in Paris, a moment that still seems to hang over Chelsea’s recent form like a cloud nobody can quite shift away.

Back then, Chelsea were level late in the game against a PSG side that has since reached the Champions League final. They had competed well too. Then came the misplaced pass, the collapse, and suddenly everything spiralled.

Since that night, Chelsea have lost eight of their last ten matches in all competitions. Twenty goals conceded, only nine scored. Seven of those goals came against a Port Vale team that has just dropped into League Two, which rather says everything about the mood around the side right now.

That may be harsh on Jorgensen individually football rarely collapses because of one player alone but confidence in this Chelsea side currently looks fragile enough to crack at the first sign of pressure.

And after six minutes at Anfield, it looked close to breaking again.

Ngumoha was causing absolute chaos

The most striking thing about Liverpool’s start was how naturally everything flowed through Ngumoha. Every attack seemed to search for him instinctively, which is not bad going for someone still young enough to be asked for ID in certain cinemas.

McCoist could barely hide his excitement watching him play.

“I love watching him,” he said after the winger wriggled free from two Chelsea players near his own penalty area. “I can’t get enough it; they’ve got to get the ball to him whenever they can.”

Honestly, he had a point.

Gusto simply couldn’t settle against him. The Chelsea full-back was repeatedly dragged into awkward positions, sometimes unsure whether to close Ngumoha directly or cover runners around him.

On the goal, he drifted toward the threat of the overlapping movement despite Liverpool already having numbers there, leaving Gravenberch with time to pick his spot.

For a while, Chelsea looked overwhelmed by Liverpool’s pace and confidence.

Then the game changed.

Chelsea suddenly found space everywhere

Despite the ugly opening, Chelsea responded surprisingly well. Once the early chaos settled, Liverpool gradually lost control of midfield and the spaces behind their press began to appear.

Cole Palmer, who has looked short of rhythm in recent weeks, started finding pockets of space between the lines. Marc Cucurella began driving forward down the left. Suddenly Chelsea were carrying threat rather than just surviving waves of pressure.

The equaliser came from an Enzo Fernandez free-kick that Wesley Fofana glanced into the net with the faintest touch. It was enough.

Anfield’s mood shifted almost immediately. The early swagger disappeared, replaced by those familiar groans that emerge whenever Liverpool lose their grip on a game they looked certain to dominate.

And that was the strange thing about the afternoon. Liverpool had Chelsea completely exposed early on, yet somehow allowed them back into the contest far too easily.

The teenager who still stole the show

Even with Chelsea improving, Ngumoha remained the game’s most dangerous player. Every time Liverpool gave him the ball, something seemed possible.

That’s what made the closing argument around the match so interesting. Liverpool’s brightest spell, their best attacking moments, and much of the stadium’s energy came through the teenager. Without him, the game felt flatter.

Which is why there will be some frustration that Liverpool drifted away from using him consistently once Chelsea recovered. The warning signs were there, but the momentum changed anyway.

For Arne Slot, that may be the most irritating part of the afternoon. Liverpool had an opponent wobbling badly and didn’t finish the job.

At one stage it genuinely looked like Ngumoha would decide both the result and the man-of-the-match award before the clock had even settled. Football rarely stays that simple for long.

Still, Liverpool supporters will probably leave Anfield talking about the teenager more than anything else, and that alone says a lot.