Chelsea dominated the striker-defender matchups at both ends of the pitch

Chelsea compensated for their defensive shortcomings by playing as a team to deny Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne. Manchester City, by contrast, left their defenders to fend for themselves against Diego Costa.

Few centre-backs in the world can neutralize Sergio Aguero, particuarly when he has Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva and Jesus Navas in support. For a make-shift centre-back with a laundry list of liabilities, David Luiz competently contained Aguero’s attacking threat.

Fortunately, defending Aguero was a team responsibility that limited the Argentine’s chances on Thibaut Courtois. Victor Moses made one of the most dramatic defensive plays midway through the second half. Moses perfectly timed a slide from behind Aguero to block an incoming pass. It would have otherwise been an easy tap-in goal for City (an Aguero tap-in, not to be confused with a de Bruyne tap-in, which tend to ping off the crossbar).

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Chelsea effectively played five men along the back. Moses and Marcos Alonso played deeper than they have in previous games. Along with the ever-present N’Golo Kante, this meant that over half of the Chelsea squad was available to disrupt, intercept and neutralize City’s variety of offensive weapons.

Kevin de Bruyne still delivered accurate passes to Aguero, and City’s midfielders were able to bring the ball deep. But for all their threats, David Luiz and Gary Cahill anticipated the balls into the box and mostly kept them away from their target. Cesar Azpilicueta owned the ground game. N’Golo Kante refused to give City a moment’s peace. And when the ball came loose, Chelsea could spring a counter-attack.

At the other end of the pitch, Manchester City’s defenders could count on no such support. Whatever he thought beforehand, Pep Guardiola should have seen the danger of tasking John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi to deal with Diego Costa.

Within the first ten minutes Stones tried to dance his way around Costa to play out from the back. Costa’s relentlessness, strength and experience allowed him to drive Stones back to his own goal line. Only through luck did Stones not surrender the ball to leave Costa in alone against Claudio Bravo from point-blank range.

Incredibly, no City players rushed back to offer Stones assistance or an outlet. Antonio Conte and the Blues noted City’s willingness to isolate their defenders in order to keep the bulk of their squad upfield.

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Fabregas used this observation in the second half. When Chelsea regained possession at the top of their defensive third, Fabregas surveyed the pitch. As Willian and Eden Hazard dropped closer towards midfield, they drew their markers with them. This left a wide gap between City’s defenders, leaving Costa against an isolated Nicolas Otamendi. What was at best a three-on-three became a mismatched one-on-one.

Costa easily turned Otamendi again 10 minutes later to open the pass lane to Willian for Chelsea’s second goal. By the time Eden Hazard scored Chelsea’s final goal on the night, City’s defence was so open that they could not even provide nominal resistance to Alonso’s pass or Hazard’s run.

Pep Guardiola either insultingly underestimated Chelsea’s offensive capability or grossly overestimated his club’s defensive capability. He likely thought that City would control the game so thoroughly on pace, possession and goals that he could concede a few opportunities towards Claudio Bravo without any significant harm.

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Chelsea made him pay for that poor judgment, much as Tottenham did earlier in the season. By playing as a team to defend against City’s stars, Chelsea gave a fitting tribute to the difference between the two clubs and the two coaches.