Chelsea’s Pochettino enjoys return to EPL

LONDON, England (AP):

Mauricio Pochettino's return to the English Premier League didn't start with a win, but there was plenty to like for the Argentine manager in his first game in charge of Chelsea.

Pochettino saw Chelsea dominate possession few teams have done against Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp. The Blues lacked the firepower up front to come away with more than a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

"After four years (away from the Premier League), it is a fantastic way to start the season. I enjoyed the match a lot," said Pochettino, who spent one year away from management after being fired by Paris Saint-Germain. "I think we deserved a little bit more overall. We feel pleased, but disappointed because we wanted to win. We deserved to win, but it is only the beginning."

Ange Postecoglou, the new manager at Pochettino's former club Tottenham, also had to settle for a draw in his first game but came away with reasons to believe they could be fine without Harry Kane. Spurs had plenty of possession but had to come from behind to draw 2-2 at Brentford in the day's early kick-off.

Most of the attention was on Stamford Bridge, though, for the marquee matchup of the EPL's opening round.

The build-up to the game had the added talking point of both teams trying to sign Brighton's Moises Caicedo for an English record fee of more than PS110 million (US$140 million).

Chelsea look to have won that contest, and if there was any doubt why both clubs think a ball-winning defensive midfielder is worth that kind of money, yesterday's game made it quite evident that they both lacked that kind of player.

The first half, especially, was filled with chances at both ends and could easily have seen a bigger scoreline.

After Liverpool bossed the opening 15 minutes and took the lead through Luis Diaz, Chelsea gradually took control of the game and levelled through new signing Axel Disasi.

Both teams also had a goal disallowed for offside following VAR checks in the first half.