Johnson grabs winner as Liverpool beats Chelsea

Glen Johnson grabbed a late winner with a superb solo effort as Liverpool beat title hopeful Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to boost its chances of finishing in the Champions League places.The England right back galloped onto Charlie Adams raking pass, cut inside international teammate Ashley Cole and strode into the area to slot a neat left-footed finish into the bottom corner three minutes from time.Maxi Rodriguez had given Liverpool a deserved lead in the 33rd minute on his first league start of the season, before Daniel Sturridge equalized 10 minutes from close range after coming on as a halftime substitute.Chelseas third defeat in four league games leaves the London team 12 points adrift of league leader Manchester City.Liverpool moved up to sixth, level on points with fourth-place Chelsea, Tottenham and seventh-place Arsenal.Its the first time since 2002 that Chelsea has lost two straight games at home and this latest defeat will do nothing to stop the first murmurings of discontent at the club, with manager Andre Villas-Boas beginning to come under pressure after slipping so far off a fierce pace set by unbeaten City.Villas-Boas decision not to start with Fernando Torres against the club that sold him for a British record fee of 50 million pounds ($81 million) in January will also be questioned.The Spain striker came on in the 84th minute for the largely ineffective Didier Drogba but provided no late threat. The statistic remains that Torres has scored more goals for Liverpool (four) than Chelsea (three) in 2011 since his big-money move.With Torres and Liverpools Andy Carroll named as substitutes, 85 million pounds ($135 million) worth of attacking talent was sat on the bench for a crucial match between teams challenging for the Champions League positions.Of the strikers on show, Drogba back after a three-match suspension struggled for service and was well marshaled by Liverpool center backs Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel.Much of the danger early on lay at the other end, with Uruguay forward Luis Suarez causing all sorts of problems for the Chelsea defense with his ceaseless work rate and foraging runs.