1 Manager demure despite Manchester City dazzle
“The title will not be decided today. We know Chelsea will be challenging to retain the crown and they know we will be working as hard as possible to win a third one in five attempts.” Despite Manuel Pellegrini’s balanced view, on the evidence of this showing the Premier League title-holders should be concerned. The Chilean’s men continued the dazzling stuff of last Monday’s 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion to register the same scoreline against José Mourinho’s team. Next up for City is a trip to Merseyside to play Everton on Sunday. The Goodison side will hardly be licking their lips at the prospect. At the close Mourinho could be seen muttering at the fourth official, who ignored him. As an image of Chelsea impotency this was apt.
2 Sagna and Kolarov soak up rare Chelsea pressure
Manchester City flew at Chelsea in a blur of sky blue. From the front-foot first full-backs, Bacary Sagna and Aleksandar Kolarov, to a dynamic Yaya Touré and a Jesús Navas offering his finest display for the club, City started in fifth gear and remained there all afternoon. Even when soaking up rare Chelsea pressure, City had a snap in the tackle and a muscular presence that was illustrated by the elbow Fernandinho stuck into Diego Costa that had the striker riled. This cocktail of brawn and balletic brilliance suggests City can prosper domestically and in the Champions League this season.
3 Begovic displays quick hands on full debut
The 1-0 deficit Chelsea stared at during the interval would have been tripled if not for the Bosnian’s quick hands on his full debut as replacement for the suspended Thibaut Courtois. A veteran of 158 Premier League starts for Stoke City, the 28-year-old showed in his display the wisdom of the choice that he should replace the departed Petr Cech. There was an uncertain moment between the keeper and Gary Cahill before he jumped on the ball. Yet then came the two fine saves; both from Sergio Agüero, low to Begovic’s left and goal-bound. The one Agüero did put past Begovic he could do little about.
4 Chelsea need a reboot. Already
As City’s dominance continued the sense that Mourinho’s band were easing into the game and waiting for their chance gave way to the realisation that they remain under-cooked and unconvincing. The champions did show more after the break but there was none of the control the Portuguese demands from his teams. “We are speaking about 38 matches,” Mourinho had said. “It is an eternity, a marathon that started last week. I cannot say [this match] is not crucial, I cannot say it’s not very, very, very important. They are title contenders so three points are important but I cannot say that a win will mean anything significant.” A five-point deficit to City after two matches is hardly ideal, though.
5 Sterling, Agüero and Silva make three-point turn
A feature on Raheem Sterling in the programme was headlined: “Let me entertain you.” He, Agüero and David Silva did. Sterling’s pace made a mug of Branislav Ivanovic. The naming of City’s new £49m No10 in the XI meant the Agüero-Silva-Sterling trident started for the first time. It caused Chelsea to suffer all match and should do so repeatedly to other opponents through the season.
