Champions Chelsea lost to a
resurgent Manchester City by score line of 3-0 in what was the first time since
1998 that Chelsea started the season without a win in their first two games.
Jose Mourinho started the game
with important members of his squad struggling for form and fitness and that
proved to be the difference between the sides as key players’ sloppiness, lack
of incisive play and decision making cost them the game at the Etihad stadium.
With Ramires starting the game,
one naturally assumed that playmaker Cesc Fabregas was pushed higher up the
pitch to add creativity to the team’s attack while supporting regulars Willian
and Eden Hazard with his smart touches and silky passes. In reality though it
was Ramires who started on the right hand side of the attack in what could be
termed as a smart move probably to help Serbian Branislav Ivanovic with Raheem
Sterling and Aleksandar Kolarov threatening down the flank for Manuel
Pellegrini’s side.
 |
| Fabregas, Costa and Ramires need to step up for the team to work |
This naturally meant Fabregas
started deeper pairing Nemanja Matic in the heart of midfield. Belgian Hazard
was placed in the hole behind Diego Costa with a hope of them linking up
through Costa’s strong hold up play getting teammates like Willian into play
from the wings.
Manchester City though started in
their usual fashion with not many changes in their personnel or tactics and
perhaps this is where the game was won. Pellegrini kept things simple with
players clearly aware of their roles and doing the basic things well.
The game started with City on the
front foot. David Silva skipped past compatriot Fabregas as if the former
Barcelona man wasn’t even present to release Sergio Aguero clear of both Gary
Cahill and John Terry, who couldn’t react with the Argentian’s movement and
pace. Custodian Asmir Begovic saved his side on that occasion but the rest of
the first half was more or less similar. Aguero was getting the deliveries he
requires in and around the area, and with little support from Fabregas and
Matic, Chelsea’s centre back partnership struggled. Begovic was called upon
twice more within a span of minutes and did well to keep his side in the game.
It was from the next substantial
opportunity that City took the lead. Silva picked up the ball from the right
hand side and found Yaya Toure, who passed it on to Aguero on the edge of the
area and the former Atletico Madrid man brilliantly got past both Cahill (who
overcommitted his challenge) and the sliding Terry to slot the ball past
Begovic. In hindsight, one could blame Chelsea’s midfield for this goal because
of the lack of defensive work done by the likes of Willian and Fabregas. Their
absence forced Terry to be dragged out of position to put pressure on Silva which
ultimately led to one less body present in front of Aguero for him to beat.
The rest of the first half was
spent by City trying to put the game to bed with chances for both Sterling and
Eliaquim Mangala, while Chelsea wasted set pieces with rather uncharacteristic
deliveries by Fabregas. Fernandinho was lucky to receive a yellow card for a clear
elbow on Costa which led to him bleeding from the head, with a red a rather
justifiable option for referee Martin Atkinson. All in all the half belonged to
City with Chelsea’s lack of incisiveness, accurate passing and robustness led
to their downfall.
 |
| Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero were tremendous against Chelsea |
The second half started with
Mourinho substituting Terry for Kurt Zouma, a change which saw the Portuguese
taking this action for the first time in the Premier League with his talisman
Terry. Chelsea did look like they could come back into the game for some time
initially in the second half with the pace of the game slowing down a bit. Decent
runs by Willian, Hazard and Costa looked like they could muster something up
but to no avail.
Both Toure and Fernandinho
managed to overpower the Chelsea midfield alongside strong performances by both
Kompany and Mangala. The opportunity which should have been taken fell to
Hazard after some smart work by Costa, who took two City defenders out of the
game before cutting it back for the Belgian. With credit to the former Lille
man, he shot on target with venom under pressure from City defenders but his
shot was saved by Hart.
They were few chances for both
sides post this, but Chelsea never did really look like coming back into the
game. Juan Cuadrado (who came on for Ramires) and Falcao (who came on for
Willian much later) didn’t look like they added something to the side which is
a worry for Mourinho. The side doesn’t have any depth at the moment even as
compared to last season when Didier Drogba and Andre Schurrle secured crucial
points by making decisive contributions when called upon.
City finally put the tie to bed
in the 79th minute when a basic clearance from a corner wasn’t done
by Ivanovic who was marking Kompany for the set piece. The Belgian thereby
scored his second goal in two games with increased questions on the Serbian’s age
finally catching up with him.
There was more to come however,
with Ivanovic again at fault for Chelsea conceding another one. City attacked
down the left hand side when Nasri sent a cross into the box for Zouma to half
clear. It reached Ivanovic who lost out to Silva in a bid to move the ball on.
Silva found Fernandinho who struck it strongly past Begovic to wrap up the tie.
 |
| Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry have guided Chelsea to lots of titles but have to pick themselves up from this poor start if they are to continue as the backbone of this Chelsea side |
All in all, the tie was over
early in the first half when City started the game so strongly that they could
have been four or five ahead in the
first forty five itself. The squad looks well into the season with fitness
levels at their best and the hunger to win the title back after last season.
For Chelsea, on the other hand,
the squad started their preseason later than other teams and it clearly shows
considering most of the key players do not look like being ready for the
rigours of the Premier League. Key players haven’t reached their peak fitness
and body readiness in time, particularly Ivanovic, Terry, Fabregas and Costa. The
touches are not good enough, thereby making the passing less than effective. The
movement off the ball is not good enough for players like Costa, who need to be
agile to create chances for the team. Whatever needs to be done though, needs
to be done fast before it is too late for Mourinho to defend the hard earned title.
No comments:
Post a Comment