With Liverpool winning late on “YET AGAIN” Manchester City knew nothing but a victory could derail their chance at the title. Since Leicester are flying with another win against Brighton, Chelsea knew they had to do the same to keep with the leaders. This Big Match of GW13 Man City vs Chelsea had lots up for stake.
With only one-third of it being done, both Chelsea and City were chasing the runaway leaders Liverpool.. Chelsea with their new manager Frank Lampard at the helm were in a good run of form leading up to this game. As we already told you in the preview, this was the place where Chelsea suffered their heaviest defeat last season where they were battered 6-0. They had lots to prove this time around.
On the other hand, this City team were chasing their third consecutive title in a row. After last GameWeek loss against the leaders Liverpool which dropped them to 9 points from the top, City had to get back on track. With their defensive injury crisis, they were still without their man main at defense Aymeric Laporte .
STARTING LINEUPS
MAN CITY: Ederson, Fernandinho, Stones, Mendy, Cancelo, Rodrigo, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling, Kun Aguero
CHELSEA: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Fikayo Tomori, Kurt Zouma, Azpilicueta, Palmeri Emerson, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic, Willian
FORMATION
Man City played with their familiar 4-3-3 formation with Aguero, Mahrez and Sterling up top since B.Silva missed the match. De-Bruyne played in the familiar No.10 role. In the midfield Rodrigo kept his No.6 role from the last gameweek and David Silva replaced Gundogan in the side.. In the defense, both the full backs were replaced from the last match against Liverpool. Benjamin Mendy and Joao Cancelo started instead of Angelino and the ever present Walker. Ederson came back in goal after missing the last match as well.
Chelsea adopted the same system too 4-3-3 with Tammy, Willian and Pulisic up top. Jorginho replaced the in-form Mason Mount while the Chelsea skipper was back replacing the youngster Reece James. Apart from this Frank stuck to the same system hoping to make it 7 wins in a row.
FIRST HALF
It was the home team who started brightly with most of their attacking outlet coming from the right side. De Bruyne was through very early only to shoot right across goal which missed the far post narrowly. From that moment on, Chelsea knew they were in a litmus test and it was a test they were ready for. The attacking trio of Chelsea were bright in the opening 20 minutes making good runs through the City defense.
It was not long before the visiting side had their first chance with Willian pulling his shot wide. In the first 20 minutes Chelsea had five attempts to City who had just two. When City started growing into the game, Kovacic produced a fantastic through ball to Kante who ran in between the defense and produced a sublime finish through Mendy and the hopeless Ederson.
City knew they had to get back into this and fast. After Chelsea’s goal they started being the City that everyone knows. Attacking with more verve and tenacity City now started to get on the ball more and started making things happen. Their persistence finally paid off when De Bruyne’s shot deflected off Kurt Zouma into the net going past the hapless Kepa Arrizabalaga. The lead lasted only 8 minutes and City were back into it.
KEY PASSAGE OF PLAY IN THE MATCH
The pressure from City was relentless with attack after attack most of which came on the right side of the final third. Mahrez didn’t have a good opening period when he gave away the ball a couple of times with miss passes. When he received the ball on 37 minutes, he had nothing in mind other than the goal. He cut in and shot right across goal through the left back Emerson and Kovacic finding the inside side netting.
City almost scored the third when Kepa made a horror of a clearance straight to Aguero whose shot hit the woodwork. Yet City were back in the ascendancy once again going into the break in front of their fans.
SECOND HALF
With the rain pouring down at the Etihad, the second half resumed. The Champions knew that the one goal deficit is not much. But on the other end where Kante tried to slide a low shot into the corner. But Fernandinho was there to push it out.
Cancelo came very close to giving them the cushion that they needed with a move straight from the training ground. Mahrez took the corner and fizzed it straight to Joao Cancelo, whose drive went across goal. A touch from either Aguero or Fernandinho would have put it past the reach of the Chelsea skipper. But since that didn’t happen the right back was able to clear it away.
Sterling was quiet the whole game but had the ball in the net in added time at the end of second half. But it was rightly ruled out for offside with his shoulder being marginally off-side by 1 mm. But that didn’t matter much since City got their deserved victory over this young Chelsea team.
Most Influential Player
The most influential player on the pitch was without a doubt Kevin de Bruyne. He is operating on levels beyond anyone’s reach. He has nearly twice the number of assists as his next competitor this season. Against Chelsea he was everywhere. When Man City win possession the first man that they look up to is KDB. He chipped in with a goal too and set the comeback rolling. De Bruyne is just about starting his career and already looks like a finished article. He gets the ball in the tight spaces but produces beautiful deliveries for others to feed onto. He was a constant menace for the Chelsea defense. Being a former Chelsea player he has progressed a long way and is destined for greatness.
Gowtham
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