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

Like all good managers in all walks of life, Guus Hiddink makes his job sound easy, as if anybody could do it. For the well-travelled Dutchman inflicting a humiliating defeat on Liverpool in their own back yard was simply a matter of common sense.

Hiddink’s demeanour after this remarkable victory for Chelsea was similar to his bearing in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow 18 months ago when, after watching his Russia side stage a dramatic comeback to beat England, he proceeded to explain in great detail precisely how they did it. It was too much for Steve McClaren on that occasion, but even the much-maligned former England manager would have understood that Chelsea’s win last night was based on their dominance at set-pieces.

Hiddink had identified Rafael Benítez’s use of a zonal marking system as a potential weakness and exploited it to the full, with Branislav Ivanovic ghosting unmarked into the penalty on two occasions in either half to head past the helpless José Manuel Reina.

“They have this zonal defence [at] corners and they have no marking,” Hiddink said simply, somehow managing to avoid appearing smug. “And we have players, first of all, who are tall, who can time headers well and who are very brave in going into the area. So we talked about that and, of course, we could get some benefit or a lot of benefit from set-pieces. That’s true.”

The other key to the match was Chelsea’s ability to neutralise Steven Gerrard, who was denied the space to run in behind Fernando Torres on which he usually thrives. Hiddink achieved this through deploying the more energetic Michael Essien in the position usually filled by John Obi Mikel in front of their back four, which again to him seemed rather obvious. If that is the case, then why doesn’t every team do it? “You have to analyse — and that’s not difficult with Liverpool — where their strengths are,” Hiddink said. “You have to disarm Torres, Gerrard and the triangles with Dirk Kuyt.

“Essien was the key in this. But not just to follow [Gerrard]. The other midfielders or full backs could take him when he went wider, but it was Essien’s role to stop him first.”

Benítez conceded that Liverpool’s defensive organisation — usually such a strength — was their downfall. “We made a mistake,” he said. “We conceded a bad equaliser from a set-piece. That was not because of the zonal marking, but because players made mistakes to allow people space and time. We had three players around and we didn’t stop them. It was a free header. We were not winning balls in the air. If you have people in the zone, you have to control all the spaces and we made a mistake.

“We scored the first goal and were doing well, but afterwards we were not in control. They had some chances and we conceded at a corner where we could do better. It’s difficult to stop them because they have five or six players strong in the air, but it was a free header. We made a mistake.

“Now we know we have a difficult task in the second leg. We have to score three times and that will be very difficult. But we must believe we can do it. We have scored four at Manchester United so we know what we are capable of.

“Chelsea did not really surprise us, and they clearly believe that this is the competition they have most chance of winning now. They have won many away games this season, but the way we lost was hard to take.”