Chelsea vs Manchester City 0-1: Jesus Breaks Resolute Chelsea

Gabriel Jesus gave Manchester City a deserved win at Stamford Bridge despite a resolute Chelsea staying strong at the back for the majority of the match. City have finally ended their run of three consecutive defeats against the Londoners in a game where they were fully in control throughout. 

The visitors dominated throughout the course of the match, having 67% possession in the first half, and Thomas Tuchel’s side could not muster a shot on target throughout the match. Jesus was able to break the deadlock early in the second half to give City an important three points. 

Pep Guardiola setup his side in a very offensive manner, lining up in a 4-2-4 formation, with Rodri and Bernardo Silva sitting in central midfield, Jack Grealish and Jesus on the flanks and Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne occupying the central attacking roles. 

Tuchel was very defensive from the start and deployed a 3-5-2 system with Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner leading the line. Wing-backs Reece James and Marcos Alonso were essentially part of a flat back five due to the hosts sitting very deep against the high press of Man City, with Jorginho, Kanté and Kovacic also sitting very deep in the midfield.

City’s intent was evident from the off and they pushed very high up the pitch, with Chelsea sitting deep and retaining a solid defensive structure. Lukaku and Werner spent most of their time behind the ball and had very little intention to press the City centre-halves in Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte. 

The visitors were brilliant at winning the ball back quickly and Chelsea struggled to create anything, with Lukaku having a poor match and also failing to hold the ball up, particularly in the first forty-five. Rodri was a key man and won the ball back impressively for City, as Chelsea looked to counter, and made some important tackles and interceptions, carrying out his task effectively in shielding the defense. 

Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker did very well throughout the game and pushed high, attacking the wings well, often looking for the overlap as Dias and Laporte controlled possession at the back. Chelsea’s stout defending in the first half stopped City creating as they failed to register a shot on target in the first half. Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and substitute Thiago Silva all defended superbly, winning headers and one-on-one duels up against City’s offense with Rudiger being the best player in the first half. 

The second half started in a similar fashion to the first, with Grealish looking dangerous down the left-hand side as Chelsea once again did well to stop City from playing balls into the box. However, City eventually took the lead in the 53rd minute after Jesus’ shot deflected in past Eduard Mendy. City worked the ball well across the penalty area, following a short corner, and Cancelo’s shot struck into Jesus. The Brazilian forward held the ball up well and made some space to get his shot away which deflected off Jorginho into the back of the net. 

The game opened up after the goal, with Tuchel’s men looking to score an equaliser, and the gaps continued to open up for Grealish down the left who was arguably City’s most creative and dangerous player. Mendy made a series of fine saves to deny City in what could have been a bigger lead. 

Lukaku continued to struggle and was rarely involved but offered a slight improvement in the second half. Werner did his best with Chelsea looking to exploit his speed but Dias, Laporte and Rodri were phenomenal at the back today for the Champions as they managed to deny Chelsea from having a single shot on target. 

Kai Havertz was subbed on for Kanté after the hour mark in an attempt to offer more attacking threat going forward but the German international struggled. Matteo Kovacic and Antonio Rudiger played some good balls forward from deep to try and open up the City defense but they dealt with it accordingly throughout the game. 

Guardiola certainly won this tactical duel against Tuchel today and will head back to Manchester a happy man with an impressive display against one of their main rivals for the title. The Chelsea fans were visibly disappointed with the lack of attacking intent from Tuchel’s side today, despite their strong defensive effort.

City took revenge for their UEFA Champions League defeat to Chelsea back in May of this year and get back to winning ways in the Premier League to send out a strong message. 

MATCH SCORECARD

September 25, 2021 – Premier League 2021-22 Round 6
CHELSEA – MANCHESTER CITY 0-1

SCORERS: 53′ Gabriel Jesus (M)

REFEREE: Mr. Oliver from Northumberland
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Laporte (M), Alonso, Christensen, Rudiger, Dias (M); Added Time: 1st Half 2′, 2nd Half 4′