EPL Blog: Why Did Man City Beat Chelsea?

Mutual Frustration

In a game that featured six recognised central midfielders, the main threat inevitably came down the flanks. Ivanovic, who has played at centre back in his last two appearances as cover, looked uneasy at right back and his positioning flaws made James Milner regularly available on the left. Tevez, however, is uncomfortable as a lone forward and not one Milner or Zabaleta cross from the left found anybody in the box. Only once did City make their domination down the left flank pay off, when Silva went through and forced a fine save from Cech at his near post early in the second half.

Silva’s tendency to drift across from the right to the left meant Yaya Touré had to push into the gaping hole left in right midfield. This left Boyata exposed at right back for City, and so understandably Malouda saw plenty of the ball. However, like City, Chelsea were unable to make this count, as Ashley Cole, possibly under instruction, surprisingly showed very little willingness to get forward, and did so on only a few occassions.

Both teams’ best chances to score came from corners and set pieces, when they were able to get men into the box in an organised and careful fashion. Ivanovic hit the bar, Alex had a great chance and Yaya Touré’s dangerous flick-on was caught by Cech.

Tevez Scores, Chelsea Struggle

As the tense, tactical stalemate looked destined to finish goal-less, an extremely rare counter attack caught Chelsea off guard and eventually sealed all three points for City. With both teams set up to counter attack, the irony was that neither team was ever committed forward sufficiently to be vulnerable to such fast breaks. However, it took one slip-up in midfield as Milner stole the ball and Tevez was set loose, who showed the same devastating attacking play that he and Bellamy exhibited last season as they twice tore Chelsea apart.

With Chelsea a goal down, the onus shifted onto Michael Essien, whose dynamism is employed by Chelsea to supply creativity in Lampard’s absence. Sadly for Chelsea, his only attacking contribution was five long-range shots, only one of which he managed to get on target, deep into injury time. With Drogba isolated alone up front, Chelsea desperately missed Lampard’s forward runs and cleverly awkward positioning.

Chelsea’s difficulty to create against City came largely thanks to the outstanding Vincent Kompany, and Gareth Barry’s tackling in midfield (90% success rate). With little threat from the Chelsea midfield, City were happy to sit back for most of the game and concentrate on nullifying the Drogba and Malouda threats, which they did superbly.

Conclusion

In truth, 0-0 would have perhaps been a fairer result overall, but one moment of ruthless brilliance from Tevez ultimately exposed Chelsea’s inability to create. Barry, De Jong, Kompany and the Touré brothers were all superb, and their concentration was enough to keep Chelsea out. This game tells us little we didn’t already know about both teams from a tactical point of view, but it will be interesting to see the psychological impact this has on Manchester City in particular.

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.