Johnson brilliance gives Liverpool victory

Defender Glen Johnson scored a stunning late individual goal against his former club to give Liverpool a 2-1 English Premier League win at Chelsea.

England fullback Johnson, 27, is famous for being the first player Chelsea signed under the Roman Abramovich era in 2003.

However, he was never a regular starter under Jose Mourinho, who eventually sold him to Portsmouth, and that decision came back to haunt the London club on Sunday when Johnson burst into the area from the right wing, evaded a couple of challenges, before calmly sending the ball past Petr Cech for an 87th minute winner.

Liverpool dominated the first half and deservedly took the lead in the 34th minute.

Charlie Adam dispossessed John Obi Mikel just outside the penalty area and he fed Craig Bellamy, who had the presence of mind to lay the ball off for Argentina international Maxi Rodriguez to slide home his first league goal of the season.

But Chelsea were the better side after the break and they leveled when Daniel Sturridge, who made his England debut against Sweden in midweek, came off the bench to convert Florent Malouda’s teasing cross from the left.

A draw looked the likely result until Johnson’s late intervention, leaving Chelsea with back-to-back home league defeats following their 5-3 hammering by Arsenal last month.

These are testing times for Chelsea coach Andre Villas Boas, with his side winning just two of their last six matches in all competitions.

Manchester City continue to blaze a trail at the top of the table with 11 wins and a draw from their 12 matches.

City, the only unbeaten team left in the English top flight, are on 34 points, five ahead of champions Manchester United with Newcastle, who suffered their first defeat of the season at Man City on Saturday, a further four points back in third place.

Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal are all level on 22 points, although Tottenham have two games in hand.