Manchester City managed to pick three points after beating Chelsea 1-0 in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium, Saturday (15/1).
The host didn’t want to waste time. Since the first minute, Kevin de Bruyne and his friends played offensively looking for a way into the opponent’s goal.
Man City continued to press, while Chelsea looked for opportunities on the counter-attack. Both teams have not recorded a shot until the first 10 minutes.
The first opportunity was obtained by John Stones who headed the ball sent by Raheem Sterling in the 14th minute. Kepa Arrizabalaga is standing in the right place. The score is still 0-0.
Ten minutes later, the Spanish goalkeeper made another save. This time Kepa blocked De Bruyne’s effort.
Jack Grealish had a golden opportunity in the 39th minute following Mateo Kovacic’s error. Kepa still touched the ball so it deviated from the goal and resulted in a corner kick.
After a goalless first half. Man City and Chelsea immediately returned the opportunity after leaving the dressing room. Raheem Sterling failed to reach De Bruyne’s pass, and Romelu Lukaku’s chances could still be denied by Ederson.
De Bruyne became an antagonist actor for Chelsea’s defense. The Belgian midfielder had another chance in the 63rd minute with a free kick. The ball can still be saved by Kepa.
Sterling efforts to bring Man City ahead in the 67th minute, still not successful. The ball he kicked sideways from Kepa’s goal.
De Bruyne’s efforts finally paid off in the 70th minute. After a solo run, De Bruyne fired a shot that put the ball into the Chelsea goal.
Chelsea tried to catch up, but the attack that was built often ran aground in the middle of the road because of the high defense applied by Man City players.
In the 84th minute, Man City almost doubled their advantage through Phil Foden’s action using Raheem Sterling’s bait in the penalty box. Unfortunately, the England striker’s left foot shot bounced off the target.
The score 1-0 for the host advantage lasted until the game was over. This result makes City increasingly firmly at the top of the standings with a 13-point advantage over Chelsea who are stalking in second position.
After the match, Tuchel openly criticized their front line performance, including Lukaku’s poor performance.
“We had eight or nine attacking transitions [in the first half] and zero touches in the box. That was a big problem today from the attacking sector that the forwards built,” Tuchel was quoted as saying by SkySports.
“That’s because of a lack of precision, timing and composure. At this level we lose too many balls very easily.”
Whoscored noted, Lukaku was only able to release one shot on target which Man City goalkeeper Ederson was able to anticipate.
“Sometimes he needs to serve. He is one of those players who loses the ball a lot without pressure and in very promising situations. He has a golden opportunity, we want to serve him, but he is also part of the team.”
“We can do a lot through performances up front, much better and we need to do better,” said Tuchel.
