Man City vs Chelsea
Premier League
5:30pm Saturday 23rd November
Etihad Stadium
(Att: 54486)
Manchester City returned at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday Night Football with a morale-boosting 2-1 victory over Chelsea.
A fortnight on from their destructive defeat at Anfield, City discovered themselves 12 points behind leaders Liverpool after their stunning win in Crystal Palace, along with their name challenge looked set to receive another blow when NGolo Kante place Chelsea into a deserved lead midway through the first half.
However a ferocious equaliser from Kevin De Bruyne hauled level against the run of play while Raheem Sterling had a third controversially ruled out for offside in front of the City comeback was finished by a brilliant solo goal in Riyad Mahrez before half-time to the champions.
The success attracts the difference to Liverpool back down to eight points, though a defeat of the season brings the run to a conclusion of Chelsea and sees City leapfrog Chelsea.
Yet another late Liverpool success made before kick-off to get a subdued atmosphere, however a first half of football brought the Etihad .
De Bruyne came within inches of firing City to the lead if Sergio Aguero within 5 minutes released in supporting him, but that has been all the winners until Chelsea took control, could muster into their bright opening spell.
Frank Lampard fielded Only four Chelsea players that started the demolition that was 6-0 in February, and it showed.
In the seven moments leading to this quarter-hour mark, Willian whistled a shot past the article, Tammy Abraham scooped an effort broad and Fikayo Tomori thought he had given Chelsea the lead when he instinctively lashed the ball towards goal if City failed to deal with a corner.
And Chelsea eventually made as Kante outmuscled Mateo Kovacic pass to be gathered by Benjamin Mendy the pressure tell on 21 minutes, and the Frenchman bundled the ball over the on-rushing Ederson.
But just as it appeared Chelsea would increase their own lead that was own deserved, City drew level. Fortune favoured the champions as deflections off both Chelsea centre-backs sent the ball into De Bruynes path and, even after he cut inside onto his left foot, a deflection of both Kurt Zouma switched his shot .
City hit the front to a moment of brilliance. A ball was gathered by the Algerian on the best, weaved between Emerson and Kovacic a shot through Tomoris legs and past the unsighted Chelsea goalkeeper.
An encouraging first half threatened to devour Chelsea when Kepa aimless pass from the back fell at the foot of Aguero, but the Spaniards blushes were spared by the crossbar.
The intensity of the period transferred into the second, with the goals of each other being peppered by either side at will. Until the rasping volley of Mahrez drew a gorgeous fingertip save from Kepa the goal-bound shot of into a Kante turned into behind within eight minutes of the restart.
City thought they had put Chelsea to bed deeply to stoppage-time if the shot of Sterling breached the defences of both Kepa, but the effort was ruled by another VAR conclusion out with all the England forward adjudged to have been millimetres offside.
And that conclusion was compounded by the final play of the match when substitute Mason Mount flashed a free-kick inches wide from 30 yards, but City saw the hit on a night when Chelsea were left wondering what might have been.
Man City manager Pep Guardiola:Top game, top sides. Quality that is big, Major opponent. They made it hard for all of us. We started fairly well, after we conceded the goal, and we suffered a little with the quality that they had, but at their minutes we believed.
They are a high side, but we fought a good deal and got a fantastic victory. We controlled the game a good deal better, although we endured in the minutes. Soccer is coming more like that – not groups putting men on the other side of the ball, supervisors having the courage to play.
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard:Big areas of the functionality were good, but there are pieces we can improve on. It was a challenging game, it felt as though we went toe-to-toe from the primary, and a moment of a deflection for the first goal plus quality out of Mahrez feels to me just like the gap.
There was a lot of detail in the match, however there were quite a number of times when we got in their third in either half but didnt have that tiny bit of quality that we can have. Games like this can be won or lost in the boxes, and that happened.
The return of the Champions League sees Manchester City host Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday at 8pm, while Chelsea traveling to Valencia on Wednesday at 5.55pm.
City then traveling to Newcastle at the Premier League on Saturday at 12.30pm, before Chelsea host London rivals West Ham at 3pm.
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