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Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea pulled off a stunning victory against Manchester City in the semi-final of the FA Cup. A superb team move in the second half was finished by Hakim Ziyech for the Blues to book their spot at Wembley for the FA Cup final.
It was a cagey affair on the evening at Wembley as two of English football's most in-form sides at the moment locked horns in a knockout tie.
Pep Guardiola's City were tipped to be the favourites to win the competition heading into the fixture, as they looked to be on course to win another domestic treble.
With an EFL Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur on the horizon and an 11-point lead at the top of the league, City hoped to progress to the FA Cup final to complete another clean sweep of English honours after doing so in 2018/19.
However, Tuchel's Blues had other plans as they delivered an excellent display in London to derail the seemingly unstoppable Cityzens, who were a far cry away from their usual dominant selves. Chelsea were the better side across the 90 minutes thoroughly deserved the win.
The German has continued his fantastic work at Chelsea since taking over from Frank Lampard as he now has an FA Cup final to look forward to after already helping them book a place in the last four of the UEFA Champions League. They will come up against either Leicester City or Southampton in the final at Wembley next month, depending on the outcome of the second semi-final on Sunday.
On that note, here is a look at five major talking points from Chelsea's 1-0 win over Manchester City.
#5 Chelsea win full-back duel against Manchester City
One of the standout features of Pep Guardiola's managerial approach is his reliance on full-backs as he has spent over £125m on wide defenders alone at City. This season, Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko have been indispensable players to his set-up, with both full-backs adept at tucking into midfield or playing out wide.
However, at Wembley, it appeared that targeting these two players was part of Tuchel's game plan. Academy product Reece James and summer signing Ben Chilwell were far superior to their CIty counterparts on the evening as they successfully managed to pin City's full-backs into their own area, nullifying the unique threat(s) they had to offer in the process.
Chilwell, in particular, was very impressive on the night and constantly helped Chelsea hit City on the break. He won seven out of the 12 duels he contested for during the game — more than any other wide defender on the pitch — with more key passes (two) and touches (84) than any other Chelsea player.
Benjamin Mendy failed to offer anything of note to the game either and was carefully watched by both James and Cesar Azpilicueta on the right-hand side. Overall, the two English full-backs played a vital role in helping neutralise City's wide threats well on the night.
#4 Raheem Sterling's poor run of form
Raheem Sterling's form was one of the biggest talking points ahead of the FA Cup semi-final. Sterling has appeared to have lost his place as a first-team player over the last few weeks, most notably since the Manchester derby, and has just two goals and an assist to show for in his previous ten games across all competitions.
The English winger was strangely called out by Pep Guardiola in public before the game — something the Catalan isn't renowned for — and offered an analogy about NBA icon Michael Jordan to describe the situation. He explained that greats such as the American do their talking on the pitch and not off it, saying;
"The greatest are like this [they talk on the pitch]. Michael Jordan never went to the media, manager or an agent to criticise or write books to criticise."
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Perhaps Guardiola intended to spark a fire within Sterling ahead of the big game. Unfortunately for everyone involved, it did not work one bit. The 26-year-old was poor on the ball, ineffective out of possession, and was a mere passenger during the semi-final. He was constantly outdone by Chelsea's smart defending on the right-hand side.
Sterling couldn't even manage to find a shot on target throughout the 90 minutes. His attacking threat was far from substantial, and his runs were dealt with by the Blues with relative ease.
The harsh truth is that his displays, Saturday included, pale in comparison to Phil Foden's over the last couple of months. Based on evidence from the Chelsea game, Sterling isn't getting back to being a regular starter for his club anytime soon as it was a poor night for the winger.
Also read: 5 Best deep-lying playmakers in the world this season (2020/21)
#3 Pep Guardiola's questionable changes
Pep Guardiola has been the architect of his own downfall on several occasions in the past. The Catalan has been guilty of tinkering more than he is perhaps expected to in knockout fixtures, which has cost him dearly in the past. Their three-man defensive set-up against Olympique Lyon in the UCL last year is an excellent example of this.
On Saturday, Guardiola fielded a side that had eight (!) changes from their UCL encounter against Borussia Dortmund in midweek. While City do boast of arguably the most well-equipped squad in world football to be able to rotate this heavily, the absence of their in-form first-team stars was felt by the side as they appeared uncharacteristically sloppy and pedestrian for long spells.
Riyad Mahrez, Ilkay Gundogan, and Phil Foden have all grown into crucial players for this City team, and the Catalan manager might have underestimated his German counterpart in fielding such a heavily rotated side. Workload management is as good a reason as any, but when the stakes are as high as they were on Saturday, it was a relatively strange decision from Guardiola.
It could also be viewed as a lack of respect for Chelsea and Tuchel, who retained eight of the XI they fielded in midweek for this clash. The story of this game would have been vastly different if the likes of Mahrez, Foden, and Gundogan began this game.
Ferran Torres, Raheem Sterling, Benjamin Mendy, Fernandinho and a host of other City players were poor on the night, and the excessive number of changes backfired on the Cityzens. The decision to rest their star players for this game was baffling, given that their next opponents in the league are an Aston Villa side with three wins since the start of February.
#2 Chelsea's magnificent defence on full display
Since Tuchel took over at Stamford Bridge, one of the most important features of their style of play has been their defensive solidity. Chelsea have quickly evolved into one of the most difficult teams to score against in the Premier League and possibly even in Europe since the German's arrival at the club.
They displayed this incredible facet of their game once again as Chelsea's defence thwarted everything that City had to throw their way. Veteran centre-back Thiago Silva was arguably the pick of Chelsea's players on the evening as he was infallible for the Blues. His positioning and reading were as sharp as ever, allowing him to sniff out attacks regularly.
He was also composed on the ball, much like the rest of the Chelsea backline. Silva also made more clearances (six, tied with Azpilicueta) and interceptions than any player for the Blues. On the right-hand side, Azpilicueta teamed up with James to hunt down any potential threats and bombed forward when an opportunity arrived.
The fact that they left Wembley with a clean sheet against one of the most potent attacks in the world with much-maligned keeper Kepa Arrizzabalaga in goal speaks volumes of their solidity at the back. The clean sheet was their 14th (!) in just 19 games since Tuchel took over, more than any other club in Europe in that period.
#1 Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola's fascinating tactical battle
Ahead of the blockbuster encounter, Thomas Tuchel faced Pep Guardiola five times in his career, during which he lost four times and drew once on an aggregate scoreline of 15-5. The sixth time was the charm for the German as he emerged victorious over his rival at Wembley on Saturday, and the win was no flash in the pan either.
When out of possession, Chelsea nullified City's wide threats and forced them to find creative solutions through the centre of the pitch, where N'Golo Kante, Jorginho and Chelsea's excellent defence disrupted them. Kante and Jorginho were excellent on the night, with the Italian constantly recycling possession and holding his own against the City press and Kante winning the ball back with ease. Tuchel's plan worked to a tee and it was no fluke victory as they could have had more goals on the night if not for some poor finishing.
Chelsea made judicious use of the ball, were sharp on the counter, and constantly disrupted the Cityzens' flow, particularly in the first half. City looked sluggish and disjointed for the best part of an hour as they played into Chelsea's hands.
It was a compelling tactical battle between the two sides as Tuchel looked to capitalise on the space left behind by the likes of Benjamin Mendy and Joao Cancelo. Timo Werner, who came back into the side after a few games, played a crucial role as his searing pace caused City all sorts of problems, and his runs in between defenders seemed well-rehearsed.
For the only goal of the game, Chelsea won possession on the left with Cancelo committed higher up the pitch, and Mason Mount found Werner in space ahead of him with an excellent curling ball. The German burst through between Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias, who weren't nearly as quick as Werner, to set up Ziyech. Chelsea pulled off the same routine in the first half only to see their goal ruled out, which was an ominous sign of what was to follow.
It was truly a great tactical battle to watch as two of the league's best managers went head to head for FA Cup glory, and it was the German who came out on top at Wembley.
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