How Chelsea rated I How Liverpool rated I Chelsea give Anfield the Blues I Liverpool on the ropes after Ivanovic one-two I Hiddink shows the way to beat Liverpool I Cascarino: Chelsea's ambition surprised everyone I Mourinho's pupils produce something extra special I Ivanovic: an unlikely hero emerges from the shadows I Graphic: how Essien kept Gerrard quiet I Graphic: how Chelsea exposed Liverpool's zonal marking

Open, attacking, exciting: games between Liverpool and Chelsea in the Champions League aren’t supposed to be this way. But what great entertainment this one was, if a little strange. As the season reaches its climax, England’s top four are not clamming up and responding to the pressure by being cagey and making defence the priority — they’ve gone the other way.

After so much caution during Rafael Benítez’s reign, Liverpool have suddenly discovered the joys of attacking football and lost the ability to defend set-pieces. Manchester United’s run of 1-0 wins and clean sheets earlier in the campaign seems a long time ago now because they are struggling to keep games tight. The flair is still there but opponents are slicing through their midfield and making United’s defence wobble.

As Tuesday’s game against Villarreal showed, Arsenal are not secure at the back either. And last night, Chelsea, re-energised under Guus Hiddink’s management, created chance after chance. Hiddink had said in the build-up that Chelsea would be aggressive but it surprised me just how ambitious they were. Defenders might have a different opinion but as a former forward I think it’s great to watch these teams attack with such spirit, intent and skill, even if you couldn’t call them “sound” any more. The movement at Anfield was exceptional, the ball zipping from back to front so quickly, with the midfield open and fluid. Holding midfield players? Whatever happened to them?

Liverpool have been so domineering lately that it was no surprise to see them pour forward from the start. The shock was in how they lost their way in all departments in the second half. It is hard to see a way back for Liverpool in the second leg.

Chelsea will be without John Terry but they will hardly miss him with Ricardo Carvalho able to step in. Chelsea are playing to their maximum under Hiddink. They were awful at Anfield earlier in the season, awesome last night. Selecting Didier Drogba instead of Nicolas Anelka and starting with the previously unimpressive Florent Malouda, Salomon Kalou and Branislav Ivanovic — big decisions that paid off for the interim manager.

Ivanovic was left free by his marker for both his goals. Martin Skrtel will be blamed for Ivanovic’s first but it was not his fault. Skrtel was marking zonally and it was Xabi Alonso going man-to-man. It was Alonso’s job to pick up Ivanovic but he was tricked by his opponent’s movement. The second time, it was Steven Gerrard who didn’t track him.

Despite Chelsea’s excellent performance, I’d say that Ashley Cole has gone off the boil. He’s not playing poorly, just that he hasn’t shown the energy he had in his rampaging Arsenal days. He struggled to track Dirk Kuyt, especially in the first half and most obviously for the first goal, when the Liverpool forward’s clever backheel set up the opportunity. But let’s not criticise the defending too much when we should be praising the attacking quality. Some goals you just can’t stop.