Narrow win over Chelsea: Man City moves closer to the championship

Man City: B. Silva (46')

Chelsea fans received bad news as soon as the press published Chelsea's starting lineup: N'Golo Kante was absent. After investigating the reason, it was discovered that Kante was sick. So Chelsea was forced to field the weakest possible central midfield pair: Danny Drinkwater and Cesc Fabregas.

Without the strongest lineup, it was understandable that Chelsea had to retreat very deep, focusing on defense. With the opponent giving up the game, Man City had more freedom to play. This was a big match in English football, but Man City played against Chelsea as if they were playing against a weak Premier League club.

The home team skillfully crossed and back-heeled the Chelsea defenders, causing them to spin around. Chelsea occasionally had the ball, but the Blues pressed terribly. All of Pep Guardiola's players immediately pressed the Chelsea players from the opponent's half, causing even the most technical stars of The Blues to not have time to make a decent pass.

Statistics in the first half to better visualize Man City's terrifying dominance: Man City controlled the ball 77%, made 9 shots (Chelsea 0), launched 520 passes (Chelsea 157). Man City's dominance made Chelsea go through the first time in 15 years without a single shot in the first half.

Despite their dominance, Man City needed a mistake from their opponents to score a goal. In the first minute of the second half, Andreas Christensen accidentally kicked Cesar Azpilicueta, allowing David Silva to steal the ball and cross for the other Silva (Bernardo) to shoot with his shin, defeating Thibaut Courtois.

The match that followed did not change much from the first half. Chelsea still defended deep, Man City controlled every inch of the pitch, making Chelsea fans present at Etihad must have been frustrated to the point of tears when witnessing The Blues not knowing how to attack.

The match ended with an inevitable victory for Man City. The 3 points earned from Chelsea have put Man City 19 points ahead of Man United and if the Red Devils stumble against Crystal Palace tomorrow morning, Man City's path to the title will be even shorter. Chelsea is stuck in 5th place, currently 5 points behind Tottenham. The Champions League dream is increasingly out of reach for Chelsea.

LINEUP

Man City:Ederson, Walker, Laporte, Otamendi, Zinchenko (Danilo, 87'), Gundogan, B.Silva, Sane, D.Silva (Foden, 93'), De Bruyne, Aguero (Jesus, 85').

Chelsea:Courtois, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, Moses, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Alonso, Willian (Giroud, 78'), Hazard (Morata, 89'), Pedro (Emerson, 82').