City will win title it’ll be blue again
IT is fair to say that in the vicinity of the Manchester City bench, there was little Pep Guardiola had not thrown by the time Marcos Alonso scuffed a late winner.
And that probably would have included Sergio Aguero had he been able to get his hands on him.
It certainly would have included Anthony Taylor had the referee passed by.
Taylor ignored a valid-looking Raheem Sterling penalty appeal not long before Alonso’s clincher, while Aguero tried a Panenka-style kick from one that the official did give and it was casually saved one-handed by Edouard Mendy. But don’t get taken in by any talk of bad luck or injustice.
This was a deserved Chelsea win.
Hakim Ziyech cancelled out Raheem Sterling’s first-half opener, and Thomas Tuchel’s side were the superior operators for large parts of the game.
Tuchel is a coach who can do no wrong right now. Two wins over Guardiola in recent weeks tells its own story.
Not that the FA Cup defeat and this one will have too much of a bearing on their most important meeting at the end of the month.
This was not so much a dress rehearsal as a bit of a phoney war.
Ederson and Ruben Dias apart, this was pretty much a shadow Manchester City team.
There were a couple of A-listers missing for Chelsea as well, but they looked the stronger side on paper.
It is not often you can say that when Guardiola’s men are in action.
No matter what the outcome of the Champions League Final in three weeks’ time, the prospect of Chelsea making a serious challenge to City’s Premier League dominance is a certainty.
It is easy to forget what a formidable squad Chelsea have assembled.
This is a trophy-ready squad and that is why Frank Lampard was not indulged by Roman Abramovich.
The match between the two benches would have been a cracking nine-a-sider.
Nearly all of Chelsea’s recent signings seem to be settling in with some degree of comfort.
Once Chelsea had been let off by Aguero in first-half injury-time, they were the better side.
And if Guardiola learnt anything from the second half, it is that Benjamin Mendy is not up to the standards that he demands.
Reece James gave Mendy a torrid time and Guardiola had to eventually replace him.
Chelsea’s winner still came