Late Johnson winner sends Blues crashing

A second successive home defeat for Chelsea following their 5-3 loss to Arsenal left them 12 points behind leaders Manchester City after 12 matches of the season. Chelsea fell behind when Maxi Rodriguez scored after 34 minutes but equalised when substitute Daniel Sturridge scored at the far post 10 minutes into the second half.

The game at Stamford Bridge appeared to be heading for a draw until former Chelsea full back Johnson found himself in space on the right and burst into the penalty area before unleashing a low shot into the corner of the net.  Liverpool climbed to sixth in the table, level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

The game started with Fernando Torres, who signed for Chelsea from Liverpool for 50 million pounds ($79 million)in January, and Liverpool's Andy Carroll on the bench.

Liverpool broke the deadlock in the 34th minute when Charlie Adam dispossessed John Obi Mikel on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area to set up an exchange of passes between Craig Bellamy and Luis Suarez and Maxi swept the ball over a diving Petr Cech into the far corner.

Chelsea equalised through Daniel Sturridge from close range following a surging run and cross from Florent Malouda.  Moments later Chelsea went close to a second but Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina kept his side level with a brilliant point-blank save from Branislav Ivanovic who flicked on a Didier Drogba free kick. 

United score

Manchester United on Saturday did enough to earn a 1-0 victory at Swansea City in the late kickoff -- their third consecutive one-goal win since their 6-1 drubbing by Manchester City at Old Trafford.

Javier Hernandez scored the only goal in the 11th minute in South Wales from a cross by Welshman Ryan Giggs to inflict a first home defeat on the Premier League newcomers.

United were never at their best against a Swansea side whose passing game impressed United manager Alex Ferguson but rarely looked troubled at the back apart from one let-off in the first half when Scott Sinclair mis-kicked in front of goal.