A week before Steven Gerrard’s slip against Chelsea cost Liverpool a title, a Chelsea hero’s slip cost the Blues’ their shot and Jose Mourinho an incredible streak.
Relegation-threatened Sunderland came back from an early Samuel Eto’o goal to beat the Blues 2-1 in London to hand Mourinho his first home loss in 77 matches at Stamford Bridge.
Cesar Azpilicueta fell over on the flank and gifted the ball to Sunderland striker Jozy Altidore, then chopping down the American for a penalty that Fabio Borini converted for a 2-1 win.
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Altidore had a tough time with the Northeast set, but he enjoyed his time against the Blues, scoring his only Premier League goal for Sunderland in December at the Stadium of Light, then drawing the match-winning penalty at Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea wound up affecting both its failure to win the league and Liverpool’s by beating the Reds a week later, opening the door for Manchester City’s fourth top-flight title (City, for what it’s worth had slipped into third early in April by losing to Liverpool and drawing... Sunderland).
Chelsea would finish in third place, four points off leaders Man City and two back of Liverpool.
It’s a match that looks so odd in the rear view mirror, and not only because Gerrard fell over a week later; Chelsea star Marcos Alonso was on the field for Sunderland. Mohamed Salah was taken off the pitch for Andre Schurrle in the 66th minute, while David Luiz and Frank Lampard were saved for a midweek draw at Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.
Weird, weird game.
Sunderland ended Jose Mourinho's Stamford Bridge record, #OnThisDay in 2014 pic.twitter.com/Co7kF3OwcU
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 19, 2019
