The running joke was that Chelsea should throw the game and lose to Manchester City, to boost Arsenal’s chances of losing the league.
Some fans had not realized how bad the Blues have become. Since Chelsea’s 5-2 loss to Paris Saint Germain four weeks ago, it has been embarrassing loss after embarrassing loss.
The good news is that Liam Rosenior’s men were able to keep Erling Haaland out, the bad news is that it didn’t matter, they lost 0-3 anyway. What’s even stranger? The defenders were not the culprits.
It was a case of a poor tactical system leading to a an even worse result.
Let’s see how the players performed individually.
Robert Sanchez: 7.5/10
Great performance from him. There was nothing he could do. Manchester City cut through Chelsea’s backline as often as they wanted.
As a goalkeeper in this kind of game, you stop conceding when the final whistle comes. The Blues No. 1 finished this game with five saves and actually conceded fewer than he should have.
Malo Gusto: 6/10
Gusto actually played well and was strong in his duels. This is despite Jeremy Doku having a field day.
Chelsea’s failings didn't come from the backline. Well, mostly didn’t come from the backline.
Wesley Fofana: 6.5/10
Fofana won all his duels and his passing was much better, however, he was not strong in his tackles.
The Frenchman made four interceptions, showing that he read the game well, there was just too much to do on the day.
Jorrel Hato: 6/10
Hato's distribution was good and he was solid defensively.
It's important to admit this because I thought he was going to be a non-factor. He did a good job, the result notwithstanding. He WAS a non-factor in the air though, which was expected.
Marc Cucurella: 5.5/10
Cucurella was more effective going forward than he was at keeping goals out.
He racked up 0.53 xG and accounted for 33% of the Blues shots on target. Chelsea’s defense was generally okay, and in other circumstances won’t have conceded as much as today.
Moises Caicedo: 3/10
Caicedo had one of the worst games he's ever had in Chelsea blue. It showed that everyone has their bad days.
Many will remember his error that led to the third goal, but even his passing was awful. He couldn't get near the ball, it was a nightmare.
Andrey Santos: 7/10
The Brazil international got beat in the air for Nico O'Reilly's goal, but he was never really close to the ball.
In fact, that he was there at all shows good positioning. He was very good defensively. Individually, there was nothing he could have done to prevent any of the goals.
Estevao: 4/10
Estevao was not useful in the final third. The issue is that he also offered nothing defensively.
The Brazilian contested 14 duels, winning only 2. Man City seemed prepared for the youngster, which left him needing to be a genius if he was going to have an effect on the game.
Pedro Neto: 5/10
Neto's performance was slightly different. He created one of Chelsea’s two big chances, all game. His dribbling was horrendous though.
Cole Palmer: 5/10
Palmer is allowed some bad days, though he's had several this season already.
The Blues' No. 10 did not contribute to clear cut chances. He contributed to defending though, making more clearances than any Chelsea defender except Fofana.
Joao Pedro: 4/10
Pedro was uncharacteristically poor. He has been enjoying good goalscoring form since Rosenior came in. Not today though.
All his shots were either blocked or off target, suggesting he never had a good sight at goal.
Romeo Lavia (67’): 6.5/10
Lavia was great, considering the impact he had on the game.
Chelsea were on the backfoot throughout the game. This means the central midfielders didn’t have enough time on the ball. Despite this, Lavia was able to create one of Chelsea’s two big chances
Alejandro Garnacho (67’): 5/10
Garnacho nearly didn’t touch the ball in his 23 minutes on the pitch. The few times he did, he threatened City’s backline, but they were not actual threats.
Like Santos and Sanchez, there wasn’t much he could’ve done either.
Liam Delap (81’): N/A
Delap has scored just one goal in his last 29 games. This looks bad, but considering almost all those games have been substitute appearances, that statistic doesn’t really say what people think it does. That said, the striker offered nothing... again.
Dario Essugo (82’): N/A
Essugo came on much later than he should’ve, considering the game Caicedo was having. In just eight minutes, Essugo contested more ground duels than all of Chelsea defensive players, except Gusto.
Josh Acheampong (88’): N/A
Acheampong did as much as you’d have expected him to do considering the game state: nothing.
Liam Rosenior: 4/10
Rosenior didn’t make any particular blunders in his team selection, and with the way the game went, he didn’t bungle the substitutions either.
Man City just showed how weak the Englishman’s tactical structure is. The Citizens scored three goals and should have scored many more.
It was an embarrassment, and is the first time in a long time that Chelsea has conceded three goals in consecutive league games.