Chelsea 2-0 Manchester City: Match Review

First Half: As it happened

The visitors controlled the proceedings for the larger part of the first half

The visitors dominated the possession in the early stages as they looked to stretch Chelsea's backline and open up gaps. Eden Hazard, starting upfront for Chelsea won the first foul of the match against Fabian Delph.

Manchester City created the first clear-cut chance at the eighth minute. Jorginho was robbed off the ball by Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling was fed from out wide but the Englishman turned in a tamed shot. Soon after, the visitors again got into promising positions but failed to make the most of it.

Leroy Sane waltzed into the Chelsea at the quarter of an hour mark but David Luiz held him off. This was the result of the press of Manchester City which dispossessed Hazard in his own half down the right-hand side.

Marcos Alonso was guilty of tripping Raheem Sterling near the edge of his own box and the resultant delivery was unattacked by his teammates.

In fairness, the first half hour was dominated by the visitors as they robbed the hosts off the ball with Chelsea's front three getting minimal service from the midfield.

Leroy Sane was at the receiving end of another goalscoring opportunity from a Raheem Sterling cross after he overcame Marcos Alonso with ease, only to be blocked valiantly by Chelsea's skipper Cesar Azplicueta.

The match's overarching theme till then was bordering on Manchester City's dominance and the hosts often playing within their shells. Chelsea's attacks often lacked the crucial final intervention or one of the midfielders was constantly getting caught out in possession. Echoes of last season's defeat at the Etihad under Antonio Conte started to ring in the ears of Chelsea's supporters.

One man who turned a deaf ear to them was N'Golo Kanté after he became the unlikely player from the unlikelier team to score the opener. David Luiz played an exquisite ball to Pedro who then switched the play feeding Willian and catching City's backline by surprise. Willian then played a hopeful ball which was headed away and found its way to Alonso. The Spaniard then fed Eden Hazard who squared it down the center only to find the diminutive Frenchman to blast home his second goal of the season.

Anti-Climactic, this was the turn match took right near halftime. Suddenly the home team looked more confident as they strolled around the ball confidently to see out the first half. Maurizio Sarri's men finally redeemed themselves by taking their chance right at the crucial moment and immediately turned the rhythm of the match. All in all, the match was set up for an exciting second half where the defending champions would look to avoid their first loss of the season.