Chelsea produced a devastating second-half display to come from behind and beat nine-man Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side went in front late in the first half thanks to Gary Cahill’s unfortunate slice from Jesus Navas’ cross.
Kevin de Bruyne fluffed a massive opportunity to double the lead for City. Chelsea duly punished that missed chance with a wave of pacey counter-attacks that resulted in three goals – scored by Diego Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard – to complete an excellent fightback.
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A frustrated City ended the game with nine men – Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho receiving red cards deep into injury time for a high tackle and for grabbing Fabregas’ neck respectively.
The result puts Antonio Conte’s side four points clear at the top of the Premier League with 34 points, with City staying in third place on 30 points.
We analyse each player’s performance from a memorable game at the Etihad Stadium:-
Manchester City
Claudio Bravo – 5/10
A late save from Willian with the result out of question was Bravo’s only meaningful contribution to the game.
John Stones – 6/10
Stones was the best out of the three centre-backs, committing to blocks and making confident clearances each time he was called upon to do so.
Nicklas Otamendi – 5/10
A solid first half was followed by a terrible second half for the Argentine. He could be held guilty for two of Chelsea’s goals, being easily held off by Diego Costa on each occasion.
Aleksandar Kolarov – 6/10
Kolarov made a number of decent clearances, but was left for dead on quite a few occasions when Chelsea injected pace into their counter-attacks.
Fernandinho – 5/10
The Brazilian defensive-midfielder was nowhere near as reliable in the second half as he was in the first, losing the ball in dangerous positions and not providing cover in the event of Chelsea counter-punches. He lost his cool in injury time and was given his marching orders for grabbing Fabregas by the neck and pushing him over the advertising hoardings.
Ilkay Gundogan – 6.5/10
The summer signing was not at the forefront of City’s attacking pursuits, but managed to initiate a couple of potential chances for City, one to release Sane in a build-up which culminated in Kevin de Bruyne missing the target with an open goal, while the other saw a fine cross delivered by him from the byline dealt with by Chelsea.
Jesus Navas – 6/10
He provided the cross which helped City open the scoring. However, his credentials as a wingback are questionable. He was too easily attracted to Marcos Alonso midway through the first half when he should have marked an advancing Hazard following a long ball from the Chelsea box.
David Silva – 8/10
Silva was exquisite through the middle, getting into pockets of space and finding that killer pass to locate his team-mates in front of him. With de Bruyne by his side, Silva was able to create multiple goal-scoring chances.
Kevin de Bruyne – 7/10
Like Silva, the Belgian puppet-master also had a fine outing, locating even the slightest of space in the Chelsea defence to deliver a cross or play a defence-splitting pass for the likes of Navas and Sane on the wing. His failure to convert a golden opportunity into a 2-0 lead in the 57th minute – hitting the crossbar from 4 yards out with the goal gaping – strikes him down. The miss was the impetus Chelsea needed to make a comeback, doing so with three fantastic goals.
Leroy Sane – 7/10
His pace on the wing gave Moses a tough time in the Chelsea half, but the German will have to learn the art of tracking back to defend (as a wingback). Both Sane and Navas appeared out of position trying to cover the wide areas on either side of City’s back three.
Sergio Aguero – 5/10
The Argentine had a fruitless game, seeing every shot of his either saved by Courtois or blocked by a Chelsea body. He compounded his misery with a high lunge on David Luiz in injury time, earning himself a straight red card and the prospect of a long ban.
Substitutes:
Gael Clichy – 4/10
He replaced Sane when City were 1-0 up, but with the rout that followed, Sane would have been the better choice of personnel to stay on the pitch. Clichy found no joy on the wing, seeing each cross headed away by the Chelsea back-line with conviction.
Yaya Toure – 5/10
The Ivorian was brought on to produce a moment of magic to bring City back in the game, but was not given enough time to make a mark.
Kelechi Iheanacho – 5/10
A wild shot from the edge of the box in the late stages was all that could be summarised from Iheanacho’s short stay on the pitch.
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois – 7.5/10
The Belgian shot-stopper made a number of decent saves to deny City from getting the second goal. His save from de Bruyne using his legs after City had counter-attacked was the best of the lot.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6/10
It was a poor first-half for the Spanish defender, giving away possession on two occasions in dangerous areas thanks to dodgy back-passes. He was not very convincing with his clearances in the second half either but was helped out by an authoritative David Luiz at the back.
David Luiz – 7/10
Luiz was extremely lucky not to be punished for blocking Sergio Aguero’s path after the City striker pounced on a poor backpass by Azpilicueta and was through on goal. His performance otherwise was top-notch, confidently dealing with crosses coming in from either side.
Gary Cahill – 7/10
Cahill made an important tackle to stop the pacey Leroy Sane in his tracks late in the first half. Moments later, he was guilty of slicing a Jesus Navas cross into his own net to break the deadlock. His immense defensive display in the second half deserves a lot of praise, committing himself to get his body in the way of shots at a time when City were throwing absolutely everything at the Blues.
Victor Moses – 6.5/10
Moses didn’t play with the same intensity that helped him become an integral member of Antonio Conte’s set-up. He was often caught ball watching while having to defend, allowing Leroy Sane to sail past him and receive lofted balls from City’s crafty duo of de Bruyne and Silva. However, he must be credited for a last-ditch clearance to prevent a low cross from finding Aguero – who would have had a tap-in. His willingness to help his defenders protect their lead in the dying moments gives him extra ratings.
N’Golo Kante – 7/10
The Frenchman had a relatively quiet opening period, but broke up many City attacks late in the game as the hosts kept pushing for an equaliser.
Cesc Fabregas – 8/10
A phenomenal 60-yard pass to locate Diego Costa for Chelsea’s equaliser justified Fabregas’ inclusion into the starting line-up. The Spaniard had a number of good touches and passes throughout the game and his role as a box-to-box midfielder is vital for Chelsea’s immediate future.
Marcos Alonso – 5/10
The young wing-back had a below-par game, providing too much room for Jesus Navas to break forward. His ill-timed back-pass in the early stages of the second half nearly cost them a second goal. Luckily for him, City were unable to capitalise on their dominance on that side of the pitch – nearly all balls coming in were handled pretty well by David Luiz and Cahill.
Pedro – 5/10
He did well to match Aguero for pace early in the game when City threatened to break. However, he was quite anonymous upfront after he became a victim of a nasty challenge in the first half. He was substituted early in the second half for Willian.
Diego Costa – 8/10
After a frustrating first half, Costa finally took his chance from a brilliant Cesc Fabregas pass – dominating Otamendi with his strength and smashing the ball to cancel out Cahill’s own-goal. He rounded Otamendi in the build-up to the second goal as well, providing the assist for Willian to complete the Chelsea comeback.
Eden Hazard – 7/10
After an early injury scare, Hazard looked bright on the left wing, linking up with Costa on numerous occasions in an attempt to carve open the City defence. His goal in the 90th minute following a devastating Chelsea break summed up an amazing second half for Antonio Conte’s side.
Substitutes
Willian – 7/10
The Brazilian midfielder looked lively after coming on, and capped a great performance with a smart finish across Claudio Bravo to finish off a swift counter-attack to give the Blues the lead.
Nathaniel Chalobah – N/A
He didn’t have the minutes to make a meaningful impact.
Michy Batshuayi – N/A
He came on in injury time.
