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Like he'd done so many times before in seasons less painful than this one, Steven Gerrard got the important goal at a crucial moment to help claw his team back from being down. Liverpool came away from Stamford Bridge with a respectable draw against the newly minted league Champions.
It's only in the last few matches that Gerrard has begun to resemble something like the game changer he was in seasons past, but it's a quality that reminded everyone what the captain has done for his club over the years and what will need replacing once he departs for sunny California at the end of the season.
"I’ve said before – he’s irreplaceable really, but we need to find the solutions one way or the other," Brendan Rodgers said after the match. "Whether it is players coming in, players that are here taking the step forward. That’s got to be crucial, because he’s a player that makes the big contributions when needed and has done for many years."
Though Gerrard's big contributions may have waned in recent years, fans will have been delighted to witness two crucial goals from their captain as the season draws to a close. Liverpool don't have much to play for at this point besides pride and perhaps a view to the future, but after what has largely been an unfortunate swansong after the highs of last season, it's comforting to see Gerrard find some final moments of quality to leave his club and his fans with.
There are two matches left and a lot could still happen in the last chapter of Gerrard's Liverpool career, but even the football gods seem to be sitting up and taking notice. It's been a rocky end to the captain's final season on Merseyside, but even those disinclined to believe in pesky things like fate can't always deny the power of #narrative that seems to be taking hold once more as it has so many other times in Gerrard's career.
