It
was all chest bumps and high fives for the Chelsea contingent when
all was said and done at the Etihad last night. Jose Mourinho's men
secured a massive 0-1 victory against title favourites Manchester
City. A cagey game, as some had predicted, Chelsea managed to take a
lead, sit on it and never gave City a true sniff. Branislav
Ivanovic's left foot of all things is what gave the Londoners the
lead they defended so well. Setting up with a flat back four and a
lone striker, Mourinho copper-fastened his midfield by selecting a
classic defensive midfielder in Nemanja Matic, a centre-back turned
midfielder in David Luiz and an all-round workhorse in his Brazilian
compatriot Ramires. A defensive outlook but an example of tactical
mastery given City's free-scoring home form. The midfield trio
bolt-locked City's possession game although a huge factor was the
loss of Fernandinho to injury. Martin Demichelis had to be pushed up
from defence to become a makeshift midfield partner for Yaya Toure
and it never seemed to click. City saw plenty of the ball but without
Fernandinho, they didn't appear to have that box-to-box movement that
have made them so deadly this season.
Branislav Ivanovic celebrating Chelsea's goal versus Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on the 3rd of February, 2014 |
Mourinho
played it cool in the aftermath. He insisted that Chelsea were not
better than City as a team though they were better on the night and
you could clearly see it meant so much to his players. Their squad
morale will be sky high at the moment and City will look at their
next six league fixtures as must-wins in order not blow what has been
an incredible effort so far. Manuel Pellegrini was his usual
pragmatic self in his post-match interview. A manager of high
intelligence, he knows there's a long way to go in this title chase
and points will be dropped along the way. Their goal difference is
staggering and they are still the best side in the league at
thrashing the so-called weaker opposition. One wonders how the City
board would react if Pellegrini can't secure the title. He has
introduced some of the most devastating attacking football ever seen
in the Premier League but you have to look back at his spell at Real
Madrid where he helped them secure a record 96 points only to be
pipped to the La Liga post by Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, probably the
greatest European side since the AC Milan sides of the late '80s and
early '90s. Despite that, Real still gave him the heave-ho. The
Special One, on the other hand, has no such worries. Regardless if
they win the league or not, his job is secure and Abramovich will
continue to pump huge sums of transfer cash into the club.
The
title race gets very interesting from here on in. Chelsea, City and
Arsenal are the realistic contenders right now. People are assuming
the Gunners will fall away due to their lack of January signings,
especially in attack, but there are many twists and turns ahead.
Chelsea seem not to have a real top class striker either but Mourinho
has managed to win many trophies without having to rub massive egos
in his front line. We will all watch with interest as this
fascinating season develops.
D.
Ray Morton, 4th February 2014.
As sick as it is, I'd love to see Jose win it this year. The guy is something else. City, by all rights, should win it but as you say, lots of twists and turns ahead.
ReplyDeleteEcb
It could be a case of pick your poison. Chelsea and City both have economic models unlike other English clubs and an argument is made that it is to the detriment of the league. That being said, take super rich owners out of the Premier League and you could be left with something very similar to Germany i.e. Manchester United would be like Bayern Munich and would win the title easily most seasons with Arsenal challenging occasionally.
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