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Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0 in a crucial Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Saturday. Kevin de Bruyne scored the only goal of the match in the 70th minute.
Manchester City now sit at the top of the table with 56 points from 22 matches and are 13 points clear of second-placed Chelsea.
After Saturday's defeat, the Londoners are now virtually out of the title race. However, Liverpool, with 42 points from 20 matches, might yet have a say in it. Still, Manchester City are head and shoulders above any other English side at the moment. They are the odds-on favorite to win their fourth Premier League title in five years.
On that note, we would take a look at the three factors which stood out in the match:
#1 Manchester City dominated the match from the beginning but failed to score in the first half
Manchester City started the match strongly and dominated possession from the outset. They played their signature short passes all over the pitch as Chelsea struggled to get hold of the ball.
Cityzens began with their customary 4-3-3 formation and Raheem Sterling often tried to break in through the inside-right channel.
Meanwhile, Joao Cancelo combined well with Jack Grealish through the left flank to make life difficult for Cesar Azpilicueta, Chelsea’s right wing-back. On one occasion, Cancelo played a one-touch pass to Grealish and the latter passed it to De Bruyne. However, the Belgian’s shot was saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Phil Foden played the role of the false 9 to perfection in the first half and frequently dropped down to create moves from the middle third. Bernardo Silva often snatched balls in midfield and also ventured into attack through the right flank.
Manchester City had 63% possession in the first half and were unquestionably the superior side. Still, they could not test Arrizabalaga well enough despite having quite a few attempts at goal in the first half.
#2 Chelsea kept searching for an elusive through ball to Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea, quite obviously, were subdued from the start despite being in desperate need of three points. They began with a 3-4-2-1 formation with Romelu Lukaku as their lone striker. For the majority of first half, all the Chelsea players except Lukaku were behind the ball as the Belgian lurked in the opposition half.
A number of Chelsea players tried to play that perfect through ball to Lukaku that would set him through on City's goal. Only Hakim Ziyech got a real opportunity to it but ended up playing his pass too long. On another occasion, Lukaku was caught in an offside position in the final third.
The Blues did well defensively, though, as their three-man defense kept fighting against City’s formidable attack. Malang Sarr, playing as a left centre-back, enjoyed a good battle with a marauding Sterling and also managed to stop the latter on a few occasions.
Antonio Rudiger produced yet another lion-hearted display while dealing with the twin threats of Grealish and Cancelo.
#3 City finally got the goal as their tempo increased in the second half
The second half started in a frantic fashion as Lukaku finally managed to receive the perfect through pass. However, his goal-bound shot was saved by an advancing Ederson. Moments later, on the other side of the pitch, Foden saw his left-footer sail over the bar.
However, as things settled down, Manchester City re-asserted their dominance on the game and started enjoying more than 70% possession. The speed of their attacks also increased as De Bruyne, Grealish and Foden began to run at the opposition goal with brisk pace.
Manchester City got their goal through one of typical De Bruyne runs. The Belgian midfielder got the ball from Cancelo near the half-line and dodged past a diving Kante. He kept moving forward and then unleashed a beautiful right-footer from outside the Chelsea box and Arrizabalaga was convincingly beaten. It was the Belgian maestro’s seventh goal of the season.
Chelsea had already thrown in Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner just before the goal. The intensity of Chelsea’s attacks through the inside-left channel increased with Hudson-Odoi on the pitch. However, none of their attempts were enough as Manchester City deservedly collected three points from the match and took a significant step towards the title.
