Manchester City’s unbeaten run in the Premier League was finally broken by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Maurizio Sarri’s men were pressing highly throughout the game and led Manchester City astray with some brilliant passing and possession-based football.
The Stamford Bridge faithful were treated to a feast as Eden Hazard first set up N’Golo Kante and then David Luiz for the two goals that put the game beyond City’s reach. There was little to do for Pep Guardiola than shake his head and leave London in awe of Chelsea’s style and elegance.
There were, however, some mistakes that Guardiola and Manchester City made on Saturday that led them to lose the game against Chelsea. They are enumerated as below:
#1 Starting Raheem Sterling at centre-forward
In one of the biggest games of the season, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola decided to drop Gabriel Jesus and play Raheem Sterling in the centre-forward position. Sterling plays on the flanks usually and looks for angles to cut his balls through. He missed that when he played up front.
Instead of Riyad Mahrez, Sterling could have been accommodated on the right wing and Gabriel Jesus should have started the game. The Brazilian was brought on later in place of Leroy Sane but then the damage was done.
#2 Leroy Sane’s missed opportunities
Leroy Sane started on the left wing and was immediately involved in the game thanks to David Silva and Bernardo Silva’s fantastic ball play. Riyad Mahrez too brought himself into the game and a lot of balls were fed to Sane on the left-hand side of the attack. The only problem was that Sane missed some absolute sitters that left City reeling.
If only they had converted those chances, Manchester City could have put a noose on the game and taken it beyond Chelsea’s reach.
#3 Problems at left-back
Ever since Benjamin Mendy got injured, Manchester City have tried to fill the void at left-back with Fabian Delph and Oleksandr Zinchenko but neither has been successful. On Saturday too, Fabian Delph was troubled at left-back by Pedro Rodrigues and Eden Hazard. Delph’s lack of pace and defensive authority was questioned severely.
City need to find a solution to their problems at left-back soon enough if they are to avoid creating gaps in their defence.
