Manchester City 0 Chelsea 1
Chelsea have just reminded the Premier League that they have not forgotten what it takes to be champions. José Mourinho’s team played as though affronted by the suggestion they would not dare play Manchester City at their own game and, in the process, there was a peacock-like spreading of feathers from the team in the darker shade of blue. They won through Branislav Ivanovic’s first-half goal but could also reflect on three other occasions when they struck the woodwork, alongside a clutch of other opportunities to emphasise their superiority.
City, in stark contrast, looked like a side that had forgotten the fact they had scored four goals or more on 14 different occasions this season. They badly missed Sergio Agüero but their shortcomings were widespread and a jolting night could have heavy consequences for Manuel Pellegrini’s side. Chelsea are now level on points, with Arsenal two ahead at the top, and the manner of the win left the clear sense that Mourinho’s team have the togetherness, ambition and manager to last the course. Mourinho made his own point with the adventure of his team.
The first cries of “he’s parking the bus” rained down on Mourinho inside the opening minutes. Yet it quickly became evident that Chelsea would not restrict themselves to conservatism. They counter-attacked with great purpose and the taunts of “you’re worse than Allardyce” from the home stands, half an hour in, felt incongruous to how the match was actually shaping. Ivanovic’s breakthrough arrived within the next 90 seconds.
Mourinho is also entitled to think his team should have made it easier for themselves bearing in mind that extraordinary moment a few minutes earlier when Chelsea suddenly broke, four-on-one, from deep inside their own half and Ramires could not beat Joe Hart with the final effort. They also had another golden opportunity before half-time only for Samuel Eto’o to turn his shot against the woodwork.
Mourinho had left out Oscar but his attacking quartet created all sorts of problems. Eden Hazard, in keeping with his recent form, dazzled on the ball. Willian and Ramires were full of energy and movement and there was more than one occasion when the three players behind Eto’o took advantage of the space left by Yaya Touré’s natural instinct to attack, exacerbated by Martín Demichelis’s sometimes chronic lack of control and positional discipline.
Touré tends to be forgiven for his own lapses because of the other gifts that make him such a formidable opponent. A holding midfielder, he spends more time in the opposition penalty area than an ordinary striker and he was prominently involved in most of City’s early attacks.
Their first move of real distinction culminated in Aleksandar Kolarov’s left-wing cross flashing across the six-yard area, just a few inches too far in front of Touré’s desperate lunge. Touré aimed a curling shot just over the crossbar shortly afterwards and it was his clever little pass that led to David Silva’s little flick drifting the wrong side of the post.
Yet City were unusually ragged in the first half. The sense that everything was not quite right could be gauged by the early show of anger Vincent Kompany directed towards Matija Nastasic after they both went for the same ball. The free-scoring, all-conquering City attack could not get into their groove and it was rare to see so much disorganisation in their defence.
The acclaim must go to Hart for keeping out Ramires after all four of Chelsea’s attackers had crossed the halfway line with only Nastasic in an orthodox defensive position. Yet City should count themselves fortunate that Ramires did not show more conviction with his shot. Demichelis, deputising for the injured Fernandinho in central midfield, was reckless in the extreme, a danger to his own team during a ten-minute period after Ivanovic’s goal.
More than anything, Hazard was a constant menace. No other player has tormented Pablo Zabaleta so relentlessly this season. It was Hazard’s cut-back that led to Eto’o driving his shot against the joint of bar and post and the Belgian was instrumental in the goal, drifting from left to right and then playing in Ramires for the first chance. Kompany was alert to the danger and charged down the shot but the follow-up effort, off Ivanovic’s left boot, was a peach, arrowing its way diagonally into the bottom corner.
The game quickly settled into the same routine after the interval. Nemanja Matic’s 30-yard effort was only a few inches away from a second goal, flicking off the angle of bar and post. Hazard, such an elusive opponent, typified what made Chelsea so impressive, blending high skill with tremendous work ethic.
Willian played as though determined to justify his selection ahead of Oscar and, in defence, John Terry demonstrated for long periods why Mourinho now says he is currently the best centre-half in the league. He and Gary Cahill dominated Álvaro Negredo to the point the Spaniard lasted only 11 minutes of the second half. Cahill was superb and it was his header, direct from a corner, that took Chelsea’s woodwork count to three.
Silva’s 73rd minute free-kick required Cech to make a stretching save but City’s attacking thrusts did not have anything like their usual cohesion or impetus and, at the other end, Nastasic was grateful for the referee Mike Dean’s leniency after pulling down Oscar, a late substitute. City had scored 72 times in their previous 18 home games but maybe there has been so much focus on that it has been overlooked why Chelsea have the best defensive statistics in the land. This was the night they supplied the hard evidence.
Guardian Service
