It’s rare that a ‘big match’ lives up to its billing, but Saturday’s clash between title challengers Manchester City and Chelsea did just that. Goals, tackles, red cards, controversy, a bench clearing brawl - this lunch time kick-off was all out action from start to finish. There was something for everyone, unless you were a City fan.
With Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte at the helm of this fixture the pre-match focus was all about the tactics. While Chelsea have remained largely unchanged since the second half at the Emirates in September, the question loomed as to how Guardiola would counter. He abandoned the 4-2-3-1 side that just scraped a win at Turf Moor in favour of three at the back as a foil to Conte’s system.
Chelsea were forced to make a change to their starting lineup after Nemanja Matic picked up a minor muscular injury during mid-week training. Cesc Fàbregas replaced him in the starting lineup, his first appearance since Chelsea’s 3-0 loss at Arsenal. While the Spaniard doesn’t offer the same defensive coverage or the ability to cover as much ground as Matic, his ability to pick out a pass is second to none. It was a big occasion for him to remind his manager what he can bring to this Chelsea side.
The opening 45 minutes saw fantastic chances for both teams to take the early lead, only to be squandered. Manchester City found the back of the net after 25 minutes, only to be ruled offside. At the other end of the pitch, Eden Hazard found himself in front of an empty goal thanks Claudio Bravo’s tendency to wander, only to run himself out of space and fail to get a chance off.
The final 10 minutes of the first half saw Manchester City really extend Chelsea’s defence. They deservedly found themselves ahead at the break - albeit from unlikely goalscorer Gary Cahill. The English defender has now committed the joint most errors (2) that have led directly to a goal in the Premier League this season.
The second half saw an early change from the visitors as Pedro was forced off due to an injury he had picked up in the first half. Sticking to his initial game plan, Conte brought Willian on in his place as a direct replacement to slot in next to Diego Costa. He was instructed to “do what [he] knows” and “to stay compact to create some chances for [Chelsea]”. The players seemed to get the message.
Within 10 minutes of the forced substitution, Chelsea managed to equalise as Cesc Fàbregas picked out Diego Costa with an extraordinary pass. Teammate Cesar Azpilicueta was quite taken with the moment himself, saying after the game that “not a lot of players can do that kind of pass”. He went on to say that Fàbregas was “a game changer”. That pass looked to turn this game on its head.
Guardiola spotted the danger that Chelsea were growing in confidence and sensibly withdrew Leroy Sané for the more defensively minded Gaël Clichy. A moment later, a devastating counter-attack from Chelsea saw the Blues go ahead. A through ball from Costa to Willian, saw the Brazilian shoot with purpose from inside the box and Bravo only put in a half-hearted effort to stop it.
As Yaya Touré and Kelechi Iheanacho were brought into the game, Guardiola changed the shape of the team. Iheanacho partnered Agüero to push Chelsea’s defence even further, while Touré’s inclusion meant Manchester City could revert to a more traditional 4 at the back.
A goal from Eden Hazard in the 90th minute confirmed Chelsea would be leaving the ground as league leaders. It also meant that the West London club were the first team to win a Premier League game in Manchester since the end of September. Both City and United have drawn their home league matches throughout October and November.
Injury time saw Manchester City’s frustrations boil over as Sergio Agüero went flying in with a tackle on David Luiz. It’s not the first time the Argentinian has lunged at the Brazilian defender. But it was the first time he was penalised for his efforts. He was shown a straight red card and will now miss the next four domestic matches. But he wasn’t alone. Agüero’s horror tackle led to a bit of a dust up on the pitch with both benches getting involved in varying degrees of defending teammates and playing peacemaker. Fàbregas and Chalobah were both booked for their involvement, but it was Fernandinho who also saw red for putting his hands on Fàbregas’ throat. He may be looking at a lengthy ban.
