CITY ARE STUNNED
Chelsea hold all the aces in battle of the blues as City suffer defeat
UNTIL they arrived at Stamford Bridge, Manchester City had only been behind in Premier League games for 12 minutes this season.
They had not lost in the league since April 7 when they fell at home to Manchester United with the title all but won. The idea of a domestic City defeat has started to seem like an offence against nature.
City played it down but it did not seem unreasonable to anticipate they would go through the entire league season unbeaten. Another edition of the Invincibles.
City had, after all, survived trips to Anfield, Wembley and the Emirates without tasting defeat. The hardest work in maintaining an unblemished record appeared to be behind them.
There did not even seem to be much danger as this match unfolded. City dominated the first half. They toyed with Chelsea.
The home side, who had lost two of their last four games, still seemed to be struggling to get the best out of Jorginho and N’Golo Kante in midfield. City were sailing on, serene and beautiful.
And then suddenly, it was over. And then suddenly the aura of invincibility was gone.
Chelsea rallied fiercely at the end of the first half and played with ferocious determination until the final whistle signalled their victory and a sea-change in our perceptions of how the rest of this season may play out.
Because when Michael Oliver blew for full time, City had not only tasted defeat for the first time in the 16 league games they have played this season but they were also no longer top of the table.
Many thought Liverpool would fade in the face of the pace City have been setting but they have not. Their convincing win at Bournemouth earlier in the day and City’s loss here left Jurgen Klopp’s team top.
One defeat does not bring it all crashing down for City, of course, but it will at least encourage the others. It proves that even this smooth, slick, sleek side that Pep Guardiola has built in Manchester is vulnerable, too. They missed the smooth finishing of Sergio Aguero, for a start, and this proves they can be beaten. And, yes, the reality is that it leaves Liverpool with the advantage.
If this was a bad night for City, it was a good night for the rest of the League. It has breathed more excitement into the title race at a time when many had feared City might be about to pull away.
Liverpool are starting to find their groove. Roberto Firmino, their most important attacking player, is starting to find his form. Naby Keita and Fabinho are bedding in.
And now there is Chelsea, too. Because after this second-half performance overwhelmed City, Maurizio Sarri’s team, which had suddenly seemed wracked with self-doubt and appeared to be having an identity crisis during last week’s defeat to Wolves, are contenders again, too.
Kante was magnificent against City. Eden Hazard was always a threat. Chelsea’s defence was back to its best.
Both teams started without a conventional centre forward. Aguero was still injured and Guardiola chose to start with Raheem Sterling in the centre rather than recalling Gabriel Jesus.
Chelsea were without Alvaro Morata and Sarri chose to play Hazard as the focal point of his attack rather than Olivier Giroud, who was on the bench.
They had to strain every sinew to stay with City in the opening 20 minutes. They worked and they chased and they refused to allow their concentration to waver. On the touchline, Sarri paced up and down nervously, chewing on a cigarette, exhorting Hazard to work harder at the front of the press. Hazard gazed back at him, looking mystified.
City did not give Chelsea any space. Twice they set up attacks after crunching tackles on Hazard and Jorginho in midfield by Fernandinho.
After the first of those, the ball was worked to Sterling in front of goal but from ten yards he miscued his shot and it trickled weakly towards Kepa Arrizabalaga.
And when Chelsea did win the ball back, they could not keep it for long. City pressed them relentlessly and dominated possession. They have developed this wonderful habit of controlling the ball so completely that it smothers even the most hostile of atmospheres. Their passing is so mesmerising it seems to soothe those who watch it.
As the half wore on, City began to threaten more and more. Ten minutes before half time, Sterling produced the best moment of the match to that point with the sweetest of turns away from Marcos Alonso on the byline and then crossed to the back post. Sane met it but his goalbound shot was denied by a fine block from Cesar Azpilicueta. A minute before half time, City paid for their inability to convert their domination and their beautiful football into goals. Chelsea, who had been unable to make any real progress until now, were suddenly liberated by a majestic crossfield pass from David Luiz to Pedro, who matched it with a sweeping ball that found Willian sprinting into space on the Chelsea left.
The City defence tried to regroup but the ball found its way to Hazard on the left side of the box. He teased the two defenders standing in front of him and found enough space to lay the ball across the area where Kante met it without breaking his stride. Kante sidefooted it but it
carried enough power to escape the reach of Ederson and bulge the roof of the net.
Even though Kante’s influence had been limited until then, the strike must have tasted like a slice of vindication for Sarri, who has been criticised for playing the Frenchman further forward to accommodate Jorginho at the base of midfield.
Jorginho had been largely anonymous, too, but Sarri is committed to keeping faith with him.
‘Kante is a great player; extraordinary in his generosity, for the number of times he steals the ball,’ the former AC Milan manager Arrigo Sacchi said last week, ‘but when it comes to game construction, he is not as bright as Jorginho.
‘Jorginho’s talent has increased with practice. He is a normal player or maybe even less than normal for a team based on individuality, physical strength or technical ability, but he is exceptional for a team with an idea of the game.’
Chelsea began the second half brightly, too, and nearly increased their lead. Fernandinho hacked down Willian as he darted across the face of the area and when the Brazil forward curled his free kick over the wall, Ederson could only palm it high into the air. Pedro tried to volley it straight back past him but ballooned his shot over the bar.
Chelsea were full of confidence now and City began to look rattled. Sterling beat the turf in frustration when the referee gave a decision against Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker swung his elbow at Antonio Rudiger as the Chelsea defender challenged him, Fabian Delph hoofed an attempted pass high into touch and the visitors struggled to keep their composure.
If City had been the dominant team in the first half, Chelsea more than matched that dominance in the second and they put the game out of reach 12 minutes from the end.
Luiz rose above Fernandinho and John Stones at a corner and glanced the ball over Ederson. It kissed the underside of the crossbar on the way in and City’s unbeaten run was over.