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A rampant Manchester City beat the champions Chelsea 3-0 as Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, and Fernandinho scored the goals for the home side in front of a record crowd at the Etihad following renovation of the stadium that added over 8000 seats. It could have been much worse for the Blues had it not been for some quick work from Asmir Begovic in Chelsea’s goal. The Sky Blues consigned Chelsea to their first Premier League defeat in August for 5 years.
Jose Mourinho’s side came into the game boasting an undefeated record against top sides in the Premier League last season, but in their first test this season, they failed miserably against a Manchester City side that is looking as much champion material as Chelsea aren’t. It marked only the second time in Premier League history that the champions have failed to win the first two fixtures.
The game got off to a quick start as Silva played in a through ball that cut through the heart of Chelsea as Aguero ran clear of the Blues’ defence but the top scorer from last season failed to beat Chelsea’s replacement keeper Asmir Begovic with the early opportunity. Aguero would have three more chances within the first 21 minutes of the game, each time being denied by the Bosnian. Though frustrated, the Argentine seemed to appreciate Begovic’s grit.
His record against the former-Stoke keeper told a dismal story as he had formerly never scored against him. But Aguero changed that in the 25th minute playing some great one-two passes between him and Yaya Toure before going past Gary Cahill to break his duck. Manchester City continued their assault on Chelsea’s goal with Jose Mourinho’s side failing to register even a single shot on target in the first half.
The sides went into half-time with the Citizens marginally on top but with all the momentum. There was a surprising substitution by Mourinho at half-time as he benched club captain John Terry bringing on the young French defender Kurt Zouma in his place. This was the first time under the Portuguese manager that John Terry was substituted in both spells.
Diego Costa went into the tunnel steaming with anger as he received an elbow from Fernandinho at the back of the head, just before that, Gary Cahill had a bleeding nose after being caught in the face by his own keeper while coming out to try and clear the ball. As the medical team ran onto the pitch, Manchester City fans sang “You’ll be sacked in the morning” referring to the incident from the match against Swansea when Mourinho criticised his medical staff.
Chelsea came out with more attacking force in the second half but created little, the one chance that fell to Eden Hazard resulted in the Belgian shooting straight at Joe Hart. It would be a lone shining light in the Blues’ performance at the Etihad. Manuel Pellegrini’s men pushed on and saw their relentless attacking rewarded from a corner as captain Vincent Kompany ran past Branislav Ivanovic to direct David Silva’s corner into the back of Chelsea’s net.
It was about to get worse for the champions as the game was trailing off to an end, a bad pass out of defence from Fabregas was deflected off David Silva and Fernandinho smashed the rebound in for City’s third goal on the day.
All-in-all, a dismal outing for Chelsea as it’s back to the drawing board for Chelsea with little in terms of positives to take away from the game. The Londoners seem to be having a problem all over the pitch and haven’t found a way to deal with it yet. The Citizens on the other hand have stamped their authority on the league with dominant performances that will put them on top of the league. It might be early stages in the season, but the signs are there for City to go all the way once again.
