Tag: Chelsea vs Manchester City

Manchester City 6-0 Chelsea – Match Report and Takeaways as Champions Annihilate the Blues

Manchester City 6-0 Chelsea – Match Report and Takeaways as Champions Annihilate the Blues

Manchester City forward, Sergio Aguero, netted a superb hat-trick as the defending champions recorded an outrageous 6-0 win over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday night. 

The win saw Manchester City move to the top of the Premier League table, edging Liverpool — who have a game in hand — out on goal difference. 

The hosts were at their ruthless best on the night, virtually killing off the tie inside the opening twenty-five minutes. Raheem Sterling opened the scoring after just four minutes of play, capitalizing on Chelsea’s first big slip-up on the night. Sergio Aguero doubled his side’s tally minutes later, slotting his outside-the-box effort into the top corner, rendering Kepa Arrizabalaga useless. 

Aguero doubled his tally just six minutes after his first goal. Chelsea’s Ross Barkley cluelessly headed the ball inside his own area, inviting the in-form Argentinian to pounce. Manchester City scored their fourth in the 25th minute, as an unmarked Ilkay Gundogan collected the ball on the edge of the area to slot mercilessly into the bottom corner. 

Pep Guardiola’s men kept up the tempo in the second half and kept creating chances one after the other. Finally, their relentless paid off in the 56th minute when Aguero completed his treble from the spot after Cesar Azpilicueta brought down Sterling inside the area. Raheem Sterling completed his brace 10 minutes from time, tapping home from point-blank range to make it 6-0 for City.

Takeaways

An Abysmal Chelsea Display

Going up against the defending champions was always going to be difficult, but no one probably expected Maurizio Sarri’s men to be so helpless. They looked short of confidence right from the very beginning and failed to turn it around despite their best attempts.

The Blues’ illustrious midfield was outplayed by Pep Guardiola’s champions. Gonzalo Higuain and Eden Hazard’s chemistry didn’t fetch the desired results. And their defenders were in sixes and sevens.

Manchester City Show their Class

Following last week’s shock defeat to Newcastle United, defending champions, Manchester City, needed to come up with a fitting response. Back-to-back wins over Arsenal and Everton already marked their return, but last night’s display showed why they deserve to retain their shiny Premier League crown.

Not only were they clinical in front of goal, but they also made sure to show their quality in non-threatening areas. They pressed relentlessly, carved out chances, and did their best to capitalize on each mouth-watering chance.

Sergio Aguero Delivers

Manchester City’s record goalscorer, Sergio Aguero, produced yet another perfect performance on the night. Last weekend, he scored all three of City’s goals to hand them a commanding win over Arsenal. And On Sunday night, Against Arsenal’s crosstown rivals, he looked just as menacing.

His treble on the night was his 11th Premier League hat-trick of his illustrious career, level with current record holder, the great Alan Shearer. Apart from scoring three perfect goals, Aguero did his best to keep hold of the ball, bring his team-mates into play, and defend whenever required. A 10/10 performance from one of the best in the business.

Manchester City are next in action away to League Two side Newport County in the FA Cup on Saturday. Chelsea, on the other hand, will be involved in Europa League action next Thursday, when they make the trip to Malmo in the round-of-32.

Also Read: 5 memorable clashes between Man City vs Chelsea

How Chelsea pulled off an emphatic win against Manchester City

How Chelsea pulled off an emphatic win against Manchester City

Maurizio Sarri‘s Chelsea to many people’s surprise came out on top against Manchester City with an impressive 2 – 0 Win to retain their spot in the Top 4.

Chelsea were particularly impressive against Defending Champions Manchester City and here are 3 reasons they pulled it off. 

 

1. Defensive solidity

Chelsea were at their defensive best managing to keep a clean sheet when Manchester City had over 60% of the possession. Chelsea’s backline of Marcos Alonso, David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta along with Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had a brilliant game. Captain Cesar Azpilicueta was particularly impressive having won 100% of his duels, made 13 tackles and 5 interceptions. It’s safe to say Azpilicueta led from the front and proved his worth as Chelsea Captain. 

David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger and Marcos Alonso also put in the hard yards and defended as a well-oiled unit. Luiz particularly bounced back after a string of poor performances while Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga made some good saves to defend Chelsea’s solid lead.

 

2. Chelsea’s ability to adapt quickly

Chelsea were playing a 3-4-3 formation that concentrated on Counter-attacking Football under Antonio Conte for 2 Seasons before switching to a 4-3-3 with Maurizio Sarri that focuses on Possession and quick ground passing and before both the Italians they played a 4-2-3-1 under Jose Mourinho. If you have a look at the players under all 3 managers a majority of them have played under Conte and Sarri while a few have played for Jose Mourinho as well. So it’s pretty clear that this Chelsea team knows how to adapt quickly and can mold themselves to fit their manager’s philosophy. 

Against Manchester City, Chelsea played a Midfield five while defending, played without a recognized center-forward and did the opposite of Sarriball having lesser possession. It just proved how adaptable they are as a team and depending on the situation they can take up any shape formation and Philosophy.

 

3. The Eden Hazard factor

For the fans who believe that Eden Hazard is out of form…Think again! The Belgian’s influence has been massive this Season he started out as a serial Goalscorer scoring 7 Goals till the end of October but has now taken the onus upon himself to create as many Goals as possible. Hazard assisted both of Chelsea’s goals and his importance has just been highlighted even more. 

The Blues need to do everything in their power to tie Eden Hazard down to a new Contract because the consequences of losing their talisman will be grave and as of now he is Chelsea’s biggest gamechanger.

Courtois agent calls on Chelsea to accept Madrid offer

Courtois agent calls on Chelsea to accept Madrid offer

The agent of Belgian International goalkeeper and golden glove winner Thibaut Courtois has confirmed that the goalkeeper’s desire to leave Chelsea for purely family reasons. 

Chelsea have confirmed that they will not resume talks with Real Madrid over the sale of their goalkeeper unless they are able to find a suitable replacement. The agent has pleaded Chelsea to allow the goalkeeper to join the Spanish giants. The Golden Glove winner at the World cup is said to be valued at £32m by Real Madrid but Chelsea have no interest of letting their star man go and agent Christophe Henrotay says Chelsea should show some compassion.

“I have been reading everywhere that Chelsea are saying it is up to Thibaut, but he has made it clear to the club that the best option for him is to move to Madrid,” Henrotay said. ” For him, this is a big decision because he wants to be near his family, and there is an offer in place for Chelsea to accept.”

Chelsea’s new boss Sarri has said that he is unsure of the Belgians future but is certainly optimistic about it. He says, ” At the moment Courtois is the goalkeeper of Chelsea,” Sarri said, ahead of the club’s Community Shield clash against Manchester City on Sunday. ” I don’t know in the future. It depends on the club, it depends especially on him, but I hope Courtois will be our goalkeeper.”

His agent also says that money is nowhere in the picture behind his desired move to the Spanish capital. He says they have turned down many more lucrative offers and his desire is solely due to family reasons. “We have seen suggestions that it is about money, and it is true he could get an increase with a move,” he added. ” But he has turned down a better offer elsewhere because this is more than a financial decision. ” Throughout this, it was important for everyone to be reasonable, and the buying club has come up with a reasonable offer for a player who has one year left on his contract when they know they could sign him without a fee in 12 months.” 

https://twitter.com/ElPrincipe6_/status/1025504644066418688

“It is understandable people might be upset because he wants to leave the club, we accept that. But this is a human decision based on someone wanting to be close to his children – and that is a reasonable thing too.” He added. 

Courtois is due back for pre-season training on Monday, with Chelsea opening their Premier League campaign away against Huddersfield on Saturday.

FA Community Shield: Manchester City VS Chelsea

Manchester City VS Chelsea - Community Shield

Chelsea and Manchester City will go up against each other on Sunday in Wembley with the community shield at stake. City were crowned Premier League Champions after an impressive League campaign that saw them finish 19 points clear of second-placed Manchester United. Chelsea, on the other hand, had a very underwhelming Season filled with controversy and below average performances. Despite all the negativity surrounding the Blues, they managed to beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final courtesy Eden Hazard’s solitary Goal from the spot. 

The Community Shield is considered by many as the last Pre-Season friendly and considering teams are allowed six substitutes apiece it even feels like one. So let’s have a look at some team news.

Team News

Chelsea: Chelsea’s key players, Eden Hazard, Willian, N’Golo Kante and Thibaut Courtois are supposed to return to training on the eve of the game and are obviously not in contention for a starting spot. All four players have been linked with a move away from the Stamford Bridge but as of now, Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ exit seems most likely. According to the Sun, Cesc Fabregas is ruled out with a knee injury that leaves Ross Barkley, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater in contention to start with Jorginho in Sarri’s 3-man Midfield. 

Predicted XI: Bulka, Alonso, Luiz, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Barkley, Bakayoko, Hudson-Odoi, Morata, Pedro

Manchester City: Riyad Mahrez has recovered from an ankle injury he sustained against Bayern Munich and is in contention to start. Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne haven’t returned to training and the rest of City’s World Cup contingent that made it to the Semi-Finals have returned to training but may not start the game. Benjamin Mendy didn’t play a huge role in France’s World Cup win and is reported to make his first start for Man City since September 2017.

Predicted XI: Bravo, Mendy, Laporte, Otamendi, Humphreys, Fernandinho, David Silva, Foden, Sane, Aguero, Mahrez 

Check out the Combined XI – Manchester City VS Chelsea Combined XI

Last 3 Fixtures and odds (BT Sport)

Chelsea: W | W | L

Manchester City: L | L | W

Chelsea – 45/17

Draw – 51/19

Manchester City – 8/7