Pep was right... City will not be strolling to title
PEP GUARDIOLA was straight into the fourth official’s ear, telling him about some injustice or other.
Ederson, meanwhile, was doing something bewilderingly unfamiliar – drop-kicking the football towards the halfway line.
Not in open play, but in the immediate, maddening aftermath of Chelsea’s second and rubber-stamping goal.
Manchester City. Rattled, ragged, bemused, beaten.
Some of City persuasion might clutch at the straws of possession statistics as evidence this was not a thoroughly deserved Chelsea win.
It was. Thoroughly deserved.
It was a tactical triumph for Maurizio Sarri, albeit one that produced some long passages of tedium in the first half.
It was a testament to Chelsea’s resilience under familiar City pressure.
It was a credit to N’Golo Kante’s (below) often-questioned versatility and to the indomitability of David Luiz – the two goalscorers were everywhere.
Most importantly, it was the emphatic silencer of the nonsensical idea that City’s defence of their crown was shaping into some sort of formality.
Maybe now, that vaguely insulting guff will cease.
Maybe now, no one will be handing City the title before they hand out Christmas presents.
Guardiola has always railed against the idea that City would coast to ultimate success.
And it was, of course, a ludicrous notion even before this reverse.
Somehow, Liverpool’s magnificent start to the season had almost been glossed over.
After 16 matches, Liverpool – 18 times the champions of England – have made their best start to a league season.
The idea it was going it be some sort of stroll to another City coronation was always fairly ridiculous.
Because not only are Jurgen Klopp’s team going to be formidable rivals, there is a quality in the four other Big Six sides that is often underestimated.