Manchester City won the top match of the Premier League against chasing Chelsea with a true show of strength. The champions dominated at will in the 1-0 win, but remained scoreless for a long time – until the appearance of Kevin De Bruyne.
With unparalleled aplomb and ease, Manchester City won the Premier League’s top match – and arguably knocked another rival out of the championship race in the shape of Chelsea.
City’s dominance
From the kick-off, the Citizens, who had started Sterling, Grealish, Foden, Laporte, Stones and Ederson for Gündogan, Gabriel Jesus, Ruben Dias, Steffen, Palmer and Aké compared to the 4-1 defeat at Swindon Town in the FA Cup, dominated proceedings. Early on, Pep Guardiola’s team let the ball and the opponent run – with almost 70 per cent possession at times.
However, it was no surprise that Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, who had started the game with Thiago Silva, Kanté, Marcos Alonso, Ziyech and Pulisic instead of Christensen, Jorginho, Hudson-Odoi, Mount and Werner after their 1-0 win over Tottenham in the semi-final second leg of the League Cup, were very passive.
Grealish and Lukaku without luck – De Bruyne’s hammer
The home side repeatedly managed to play their usual game and overcome the Blues’ last chain with clever passes. Too often, however, the final precision was lacking. The first clear chance was therefore a long time coming: Grealish missed against Kepa (40th).
At the beginning of the second half, Chelsea looked more alert and created a first (and only) chance. But Lukaku could not overcome Ederson (47th). And so it was almost exclusively the champions who kept the pressure on. Despite the superiority of the home side, the top match was decided by an individual action: After a determined dribble against Kanté, De Bruyne moved inside from the left and soberly chased the leather into the far corner in front of the penalty area (70.).
After that, Chelsea continued to look frighteningly pale, so that City seemed closer to a second goal. But the second goal was not to come, so that it remained the deserved 1:0 for the hosts. They marched on to their fourth championship in five years – while the Blues have probably finally dropped out of the title race.
