City’s soujourn to the nation’s capital fluttered away like their title hopes at Stamford Bridge last night as they handed Chelsea an easy victory.
Having failed to capitalise on the current frailties surrounding Arsenal at the weekend, they took the short trip from north to west hoping to ride on the back of Chelsea’s almost unbelievable defeat to Crystal Palace at the same stadium.
But, as usual, when City come up against the country’s better teams, they fail to deliver and any chance the Blues had of realistically finishing top has left them with a fight for fourth.
Guardiola, as usual, selected another unusual line-up with Sterling deselected to the bench, Otamendi uninvoled, presenting chances for Delph and Kompany to stake a claim for places as the season draws to a close. At right back, a clear problem area for Guardiola, there seemed to be a combination of Fernandinho and Navas, although the backline could have been anything from a back three to a five. It looked untidy.
With Delph, I suppose in the holding position, Yaya was once again warming the bench, which after some excellent performances was again mysterious. De Bruyne, Silva, Sane and the ubiquitous Aguero made up the numbers in any kind of position you fancy.
And I suppose there was the crux of the match. City looked like a team of butterflies fluttering anywhere on the field, Chelsea was a well-drilled outfit where everyone played a position and everyone had a specific job to do. No taking chances, no, generally, conceding stupid goals.
For the first ten minutes not a lot happened. Chelsea were relatively happy to see City run rings round themselves on two thirds of the pitch, but there was a big “No Entry” sign up in the final third. It looked as though Moaning Maureen’s two buses were still parked there. City played from side-to-side with Sane double-banked and De Bruyne trying to set up play from deeper areas and Silva hunting for non-existent space.
But when Chelsea sprang, more or less from the edge of their own box, it was quick and clinical, although the final execution of the opening goal had an element of luck about it, luck that never lands at the doors of the Etihad.
The ghastly creature known as Luiz won a tackle, yes, not a foul and set Hazard in motion. He fed the wingers and as Azpilicueta and Pedro literally ran a ring around Clichy the ball ended at the feet of Hazard who had made up a lot of ground. His shot brought into play Kompany who diverted the ball just out of reach of Caballero and into the net. Welcome back to the real world, Vinnie.
So almost immediately City were trailing and didn’t really know why. The reason was that when they emerged out of defence Chelsea emerged in numbers to support Costa and when they get into the box there are options. City have attacked, the Gabriel Jesus matches apart, with a shortage of options leaving Aguero far too much to do. This is where City miss Gundogan.
Shortly after, Chelsea could have terminated their night’s work when a similar move this time down the other flank saw Hazard get clear leaving Navas and Fernandinho in his wake and feed a neat pass along the edge of the box to Fabregas. This time Clichy was on hand to divert the goalbound shot over the top.
The Chelsea back line fresh from playing week-to-week football were almost in relaxation mode as they closed off whatever options City were trying to create but in the 26th minute, Courtois, under no pressure decided he was Claudio Bravo in disguise. His clearance was intended to find a wide player, probably Pedro, but found Silva who raced into the Chelsea penalty area and unleashed a powerful drive which Courtois could only parry. Aguero reacted more rapidly than the nation’s footballing darling Konte, and drilled it into the net for a worthy equaliser and finally giving City something to get hold of.
However, City couldn’t make any hay around the Chelsea box. They had proved that with pressure and quick movement of the ball there is a little bit of space, but it has to be exploited quickly. Aguero did this for the goal, but the remainder of City’s build up was a bit laboured.
Ten minutes later, luck once again deserted City. Chelsea, like Arsenal at the weekend, knew City had nothing on the right side of defence and Fabregas set out to exploit that. With Navas just about back and Fernandinho not in the covering position, Fabregas split them both with a superb pass to Pedro who simply waited for the foul from Fernandinho. There was cover from Stones and the trip was completely unnecessary and once again Fernandinho was found wanting and not doing his job.
One generally says that Hazard doesn’t often miss from the spot but his poor kick, although into the corner, was saved by Caballero who actually had time to collect the ball. Instead though, he spilled it back into the field of play and Hazard followed up and scored. It was probably undeserved on the balance of play, but balances of play do not decide a football match. As Sue says, goals do.
And with that, City found themselves once again behind but this time terminally so.
The hosts were happy to get to the break in front and in the second half settled themselves in two tight lines on the edge of their box, content to let City weave whatever patterns they wanted to, but entry into the penalty area was strictly verboten. City simply didn’t have the penetration to get close enough to make their possession count. Chelsea effectively had a back five and midfield four guarding the edges of the box, a bit like QPR on Aguero’s glorious day. Today was not going to be similar for City. It looked as though they were knocking on the door for knocking’s sake, knowing all the while it was not going to happen. It didn’t.
City made a couple of changes to try to affect things but neither Nolito nor Sterling could make any impact. Chelsea were afforded the luxury of replacing Fabregas and Hazard and eased themselves to a victory they probably didn’t fully deserve but which they will take.
The paradox here was so simple. If you defend your goal correctly and score at the other end you will win. Chelsea this season have been the only true exponents of that philosophy in the Barclays Premier League. City have entertained us most of the time with goals but at the back it is a different story. We don’t need the broadcasting media pundit to tell us that, Stones excepted, the rest of City’s defence is at the head of the exit chute as their taxis idle outside the CFA Gates. It was refreshing for it to be confirmed that Kompany in the defence adds a whole new dimension in terms of confidence, but there is still not enough going on around him. The full backs are not good enough and neither is Otamendi. There is no visible news suggesting that Kompany suffered any further damage last night, although the Elephant Man did get away with a bad over-the-top foul, you know the sort that gets a City player a red card.
If I was Guardiola now I would play Kompany at Wembley against Arsenal and hope that he can help prevent the gift goals that City give away against the higher teams.
City were probably the better team on the night, but Chelsea’s work ethic won them the match. They can roll their sleeves up and absorb pressure. They can break with pace and numbers. They have the up front quality to design and score goals. I’m sure City have that latter quality but there needs to be much more support for Aguero. As I said today and earlier in the season the fact that Gundogan makes unexpected apparitions in the box was a bonus for City as it also left space for Sterling and Silva, but neither Silva nor De Bruyne seem to emulate that on their own.
With Hull City taking three points off Middlesbrough in the basement match last night and scoring four in the process, their confidence will be high against City on Saturday. They seem to be steadily seeking safety and Swansea’s last five minutes implosion against Spuds last night has seem them drop further towards the Premier League trap door. Revitalised Hull will not roll over at the weekend and City will need to keep themselves focused in order to pocket the points. No eyes on Wembley, all eyes on the prize. They have failed to extend their lead over the Stretfords and Arsenal and are sentencing themselves for a dogfight to qualify for the Champions League.
Let’s hope that the dogfight begins with a win on Saturday.
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