Thomas Tuchel was delighted by 10-man Chelsea’s dogged defensive display after Reece James’ red card in Saturday’s hard-fought draw at Liverpool.

A captivating end-to-end first half was followed by one-way traffic after the break on Saturday evening at a vibrant Anfield.

Kai Havertz opened the scoring with a superb looping header, but Mohamed Salah levelled with a penalty during a dramatic end to the opening period.

“They knew the job they had to do was just to defend in and around the box more or less, and it was tricky.

“We could have done better for sure but it’s early in the season. We need this one moment where you get through, where you can finish it off.

“We had our finishers, we had good football moments. We tried everything, we defended the potential counter-attacks most of the time really well – sometimes we had to run a bit further to catch them again but we did.

“Chelsea put a proper shift in as well and I respect that, so it’s a draw. Just take the point and carry on.”

Liverpool released a statement after the match condemning those supporters who ignored pleas not to sing a homophobic chant aimed at Chelsea.

“This chant is not acceptable,” the club said on Twitter.

“It goes against the values of our football club and needs to stop. We stand shoulder to shoulder with @LFC_LGBT and will continue to do so. #RedTogether.”