Pep Guardiola said this would be a good test of Manchester City’s level and so it was. In football terms they are right up there with Chelsea, almost identical for an hour or so, but when it comes to temperament they are lacking. City failed to regain the Premier League leadership because they are not as good at closing out games or hauling themselves back into them as their opponents.
They are not as good at keeping their cool either, which is why they ended up with nine men following a bad-tempered fracas at the end occasioned by Sergio Agüero’s blatant and petulant foul on David Luiz.
Usually it is Diego Costa who triggers the spiteful incidents, but the Chelsea striker had a view of the scuffling from the bench after being substituted. Smart move by Antonio Conte that, even if his player did attempt to join in from the sidelines.
Costa not only scored and made the goals that brought about an eighth successive Chelsea victory after a comeback even more impressive than the one against Tottenham last week, he initiated some of the bad feeling that followed by overreacting to an early Nicolás Otamendi challenge to draw the game’s first booking. The Argentina defender was incensed about that, Agüero joined him when he was the victim of a clear refereeing injustice before half-time. Once Chelsea ran away with the match City’s pent-up frustration boiled over in the closing seconds.
Guardiola believes his side need to be stronger in defence – they have managed to keep two clean sheets in the Premier League this season – though the real requirement may be to toughen up mentally. Chelsea are defensively strong – six clean sheets in their run of eight wins – and ruthlessly professional. As the final score suggested, whether one was counting goals or bodies on the pitch at full time, that appears to be a combination that could give them a decisive advantage in the title race.
City switched to a back three to match Chelsea and in the first half there was almost nothing between the sides. If the two shades of blue on display had been any closer in colour it would have been difficult to tell them apart. Both employed wing‑backs, both were looking to Belgian playmakers in Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard and both had reliable goalscorers in Agüero and Costa playing on their own up front.
There was barely a cigarette paper between the two sides in the 44 minutes before the deadlock was broken, and when the first goal finally arrived it was an extremely rare specimen. Not because it was a Gary Cahill own goal, the Chelsea captain has beaten Thibaut Courtois before, but because it came from a Jesús Navas cross. The speedy yet wasteful Spaniard is not everyone’s idea of an ideal winger, let alone wing-back, but his habit of unfailingly hitting the first defender with his crosses came in handy when Cahill shinned his delivery over his own goalkeeper’s head. The cross would have been intended for Agüero, who was still taking up position after rolling the ball out to the right wing, and having seen his task completed for him the striker could not resist a congratulatory pat as he ran past the prone defender.
That was because an edge of needle had already crept in by then, with City furious David Luiz had remained on the field after his foul on Agüero after half an hour had prevented a clear run on goal. Anthony Taylor recognised the offence and immediately looked to his assistant for guidance, and when no confirmation was forthcoming allowed play to continue. The question of whether a clear goalscoring opportunity had been denied seemed to prompt the referee to fudge his decision. The opportunity was not crystal clear, and there would have been even greater uproar had Taylor given a free-kick and failed to send the Chelsea player off, though it was clear a foul had taken place and ignoring it hardly seemed the correct decision.
City had other grievances with the referee, too, though as with the David Luiz incident they grew in significance once Chelsea came from behind to take the lead. The home side only had themselves to blame for that. De Bruyne missed a chance to put his side two up when he could only hit the bar following a wonderful counterattacking move, and the Belgian’s finishing was also at fault when he took a fraction too long to shoot when Leroy Sané’s splendid run through the middle had led to a clear sight of goal. Perhaps it was City’s misfortune that the best chances did not fall to Agüero, but when Chelsea began to come back into the game at the start of the second half Costa was predictably dead-eyed.
Released by Cesc Fàbregas he turned Otamendi with ease to beat Claudio Bravo for the equaliser, then with City guilty of pushing too many men forward the striker coolly held the ball up before releasing Willian into space.
With Guardiola sacrificing John Stones to bring on another attacking player the acreage of space in the City half had increased by the time Hazard applied his coup de grâce in the final minute.
The City manager manfully refused to blame the referee for the defeat, which was big of him considering his side could have been playing against 10 men for an hour. Controversies aside, Chelsea set a level that was too high to reach. City’s defence remains suspect, they will miss Fernandinho in midfield, and losing Agüero for a likely four matches is not going to improve their finishing.
