Poor Chelsea FC Fall 3-0 To Manchester City
Chelsea FC again disappointed in a 3-0 loss against Manchester City
Chelsea FC drew the first game of their Premier League season last Saturday against Swansea City 2-2. After a poor pre-season and a disappointing outing last week, Jose Mourinho’s men looked to kickstart their title defence this afternoon against Manchester City. It did not go well.
The only changes to the Blues starting line-up were Ramires being brought in for Oscar, who had picked up a knock in training, while Asmir Begovic replaced the suspended Thibaut Courtois. This meeting would be the first in The Etihad following its expansion over the summer. A new tier was added to the South Stand to increase the capacity to close to 55,000.
The game started in a very lively fashion, with Sergio Aguero finding himself through on goal mere seconds after kick-off. Begovic put many Chelsea minds at rest by coming out on top in the one-on-one. However, this would set the tone for the game.
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Man City dominated the first half and the Chelsea defence were hapless. Time and time again the Blues looked exposed at the back; Begovic produced a plethora of saves to keep them in the game. Aguero had about five chances that he would expect to convert in the first half-hour, but the Bosnian denied him repeatedly.
Unfortunately, after bashing on the door for so long, City eventually knocked it down and Aguero got his goal in the 32nd minute. A neat little exchange between the Argentine and Yaya Toure left the striker surrounded by four Blues defenders. Somehow he kept hold of the ball and engineered half a yard, enough to slot it into the bottom corner. Nothing that Begovic could have done about that.
City continued piling on the pressure and soon Eliaquim Mangala had a decent chance to double their lead. The defender got to a Kolarov delivery ahead of a stranded Begovic but failed to direct it into the net. Begovic, meanwhile, cleaned out Gary Cahill prompting the medical staff to rush onto the field, to the amusement of everyone…
Moments later there was another ugly collision, but this time between Diego Costa and Fernandinho. In what could have easily been a red card, Fernandinho’s elbow connected with Costa’s head. In a bizarre situation, City’s medical staff attended to Costa as Chelsea’s physios were still dealing with Cahill’s bloodied face.
In probably the most exciting Blues action of the first period, Costa had to be restrained by multiple Chelsea players and staff while heading down the tunnel at its conclusion as he seemed intent on getting to Fernandinho.
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The start of the second half saw Kurt Zouma emerge, having been warming up since City’s goal. He surprisingly replaced John Terry who was supposedly carrying a ‘minor injury’ (I presume we’ll hear more on that later in the evening).
Chelsea looked just as shaky at the back as the half began, but at least going forward there was more promise. This was illustrated by Ramires getting the ball in the back of the net in the 50th minute, only for him to be deemed (controversially) offside. Ramires failed to hear the whistle and carried on celebrating in front of the travelling Blues support, leaving himself woefully out of position as City countered.
The game further opened up at City’s end, as Chelsea began to look more and more dangerous. Jose injected some fresh legs into the game by replacing Ramires with Juan Cuadrado. Really at this point (64 mins) Blues fans should have given up, but optimism still lingered that the Colombian would suddenly remember how to play football.
Alas, this was not to be and Cuadrado was terrible for his period on the field.
Nevertheless, the best chance for Chelsea did come after his introduction. Costa drove down the left flank in a Blues counter-attack, before cutting in and finding a loosely-marked Eden Hazard. A little shimmy followed but the Belgian drove the ball straight at Joe Hart, who produced a comfortable save.
This would the peak for Chelsea, as their desire for a goal left them increasingly vulnerable at the back. City doubled their lead with a Vincent Kompany header from a corner on the 79th minute, while Fernandinho finished the Blues off with a lovely thunderous strike six minutes later. A City counter-attack and an inability to clear the ball on Chelsea’s behalf resulted in it bounding to the midfielder who smashed it from the edge of the box. A great strike indeed.
Diego Costa would hit the post in stoppage time but it was all-in-all a shocking Chelsea performance. Players are needed, especially in defence, and some serious work must to be done if the Blues are to challenge for the title this year.
Chelsea FC:
Begovic;
Ivanovic, Terry (Zouma 45′), Cahill, Azpilicueta;
Matic, Fabregas;
Willian (Falcao 79′, Ramires (Cuadrado 64′), Hazard;
Costa
Manchester City:
Hart;
Sagna, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov;
Toure, Fernandinho;
Navas (Nasri 65′), Silva, Sterling (Demichelis 79′)
Aguero (Bony 83′)
Attendance: 54,331
Next: Chelsea FC Transfer News: Roma Bid £25million For Kurt Zouma