Leggy. Confused. Ponderous. Pathetic. These were the perfect words to describe the abysmal display of Chelsea on Sunday at home at Stamford Bridge when visiting title-chasing Manchester City put three past Robert Sánchez.
It was a game City needed to win to close the gap on Arsenal, whose defeat at home handed the initiative to the blue side of Manchester.
And they lived up to it in emphatic fashion, although City had Chelsea to thank when the Blues tried to make things difficult for them from the second quarter of the first half.
But for all of Chelsea’s touches of the ball, they appeared bereft of ideas, ponderous in attack, slow in recovery, inefficient in pressing, efficient in misplaced passes, poor in positional play, confused in their marking and a mess when on the ball, giving City the opportunity to overwhelm them with their artistry and firepower in the second half.
It was nil at half time, but the game was taken away from Chelsea during a blistering spell of attacking at the start of the second half and, by the end, it was impossible not to feel sorry for Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola’s sharks were tepid in the first half but were able to easily brush aside Chelsea in such an emphatic fashion, which would leave a lot of worries for Arsenal.
Some die-hard Arsenal fans had thought that Chelsea, chasing their own dream of qualifying for Europe, would draw inspiration from there and do them a favour, but it was not to be from Liam Rosenior’s callow Chelsea.
City did not look back after taking control, with another vital goalscoring contribution from Nico O’Reilly, increasingly Guardiola’s man for the big occasion, and a thrilling spell from Rayan Cherki. The Frenchman was instrumental in this 3-0 win, tormenting Chelsea with his quick footwork and eye for a pass.
Cherki, who has now collected 10 assists in his first season in the Premier League, laid on goals for O’Reilly and Marc Guéhi as City moved six points off Arsenal with a game in hand.
The sides, of course, meet at the Etihad Stadium next. But the gap is being chiselled away.
In the game where there were aimless passes, bad touches and missed connections from City in the first half, not a few would have expected Chelsea to bite them as they tried to compress the space.
Cole Palmer was always looking to take the ball on the half-turn and City were rattled by a flurry of openings for Chelsea.
Palmer had the first chance, lashing into the side netting. João Pedro threatened, forcing a block from Abdukodir Khusanov, and Chelsea had joy when they played balls behind Matheus Nunes at right-back.
Pedro Neto took his Portugal teammate on and drew a sharp save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.
João Pedro dropped deep, turned and found Marc Cucurella, but the left-back was a whisker offside when he fired past Donnarumma.
City could not find Erling Haaland, although there were always going to be times when they broke through. When they did, though, a swift exchange releasing O’Reilly on the left, Robert Sánchez dealt with Bernardo Silva’s flick from the left-back’s cross.
Guardiola’s half-time words must have been delivered with a decent level of anger because City were a different side at the start of the second half.
Chelsea could not cope with the shift. There was no response when City, realising the urgency of the situation, raised the speed of their passing, sharpened the angles and began to slice through Chelsea.
Haaland had his first sight of goal but miscued badly. Cherki fired narrowly wide, and it did not take long for Chelsea to crack. Too slow to smell danger, they paid for not stepping out when Cherki toyed with them on the right.
City’s No 10 had too much time to make up his mind and, from his gorgeous cross, O’Reilly was able to peel away from Santos before glancing an unstoppable header past Sánchez.
O’Reilly, whose double saw off Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final, has developed the knack of coming up with important goals.
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Cherki, meanwhile, was in his element. Four minutes after the opener, he collected the ball on the left, danced inside and strode past a couple of powderpuff challenges.
Then, just as he was about to shoot, he fooled Chelsea by threading a ball inside a gap left by Jorrel Hato and Neto, leaving Guéhi to punish his boyhood club by driving a low shot past Sánchez.
Chelsea, staring at a fifth defeat in their past six games in all competitions, unravelled. It was 3-0 when they tried to play out from the back.
Caicedo turned into trouble and was outmuscled by Cherki and Jérémy Doku, who cantered through the middle before beating Sánchez easily.
The defining moments may be some games away but the manner of City’s display may tip the chase in their favour. 3:0 this one ended at Stamford Bridge. Initiative City.
Manchester City Hammer Chelsea In 3-0 Hiding To Close Gap On Arsenal is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
