Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City: Hart howler gifts 3 points to Chelsea as Torres keeps rising

Fernando Torres celebrates scoring the winning goal

That was bound to happen. The biggest clash of the season between the two title favorites was decided by a 90th minute winner from Fernando Torres after Nastasic and Hart combined to present the goal on a golden plate for the Spaniard. As a result, Chelsea remain in the hunt for the top spot, 2 points behind Arsenal with Liverpool following closely on goal differential. For Pellegrini and City, it was another abysmal breakdown in the final stages of the match after a promising 2nd half display. It has been the trend since last season for the Manchester outfit, something Pellegrini needs to work on vigorously.

Though it is still very early in the season, much was at stake for both the teams to stand firm in the race for the title. Right from the pre-season, City and Chelsea were touted as favorites to lift the title next May, So, this encounter had reasonable significance. As the match panned out, a draw would have been considered the right outcome. Chelsea were lucky to be get all 3 points, which Mourinho will take with open hands. This match was the story of one man. Rediscovering his lost self, and making huge strides to justify his price tag, Fernando Torres kept his head up and turned the game on its head with his perseverance. Though this might be the early stages of the reincarnation of the Torres of old, 8 goals in 10 starts this season is a decent record.

Starting Lineups

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech – Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole – Ramires, Lampard – Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle – Torres

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart – Zabaleta, Demichelis, Nastasic, Clichy – Garcia, Fernandinho – Nasri, Toure, Silva – Aguero

Jose Mourinho did not give David Luiz a place in the starting lineup, after his midfield cameo in the game against Schalke on Wednesday. Juan Mata too was restricted to the bench as two direct players in Hazard and Schurrle were preferred. Torres, with his brace against Schalke, earned his place in the starting lineup, restricting Samuel Eto’o to the bench. Ashley Cole returned to the lineup after 2 weeks without an appearance due to injury. Ramires and Lampard started as a duo for the 9th time in the Chelsea midfield in 14 matches.

Pellegrini had to retort to his ex-Malaga player Martin Demichelis to partner Matija Nastasic in defense after injuries ruled out Kompany and Lescott. Micah Richards could only make the bench. Javi Garcia who struggled to cpoe with life in defense was moved into the midfield partnering Fernandinho. This meant, Yaya Toure was pushed further up the field into the attacking band along with David Silva and Samir Nasri. Sergio Aguero was preferred to Negredo and Dzeko who were on the bench.

This match had a few records at stake for both the teams, and one of them was facing the hammer. Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea remained unbeaten at Stamford Bridge in 65 games and Manchester City never lost when their star man Aguero scored. It was a game with end to end play with both teams looking to exploit the other’s weaknesses. With two of the costliest lineups in England facing off, it could not be worse than the boring Clasico which took place on Saturday.

First Half

Both Chelsea and Man City prefer playing the 4-2-3-1 formation, and they lined up accordingly. The style of play that dictates the proceedings for both teams revolves around attacking fullbacks and narrow positioning of attacking midfielders playing short passing triangles. That was the case in this match. If we look at the average positions occupied by all the 5 midfielders(including wingers) of either teams over the course of 90 minutes, they compress the play into a very narrow zone on the pitch. This development gave license for the fullbacks to bomb forward on every possible occasion.

Chelsea: Average Positions(Source: www.whoscored.com)

Manchester City: Average Positions(Source: www.whoscored.com)

Holding on to the midfield topic, When you weigh up both the sets of midfield players, Toure-Garcia-Fernandinho no doubt looks beastly and powerful when compared to Lampard-Ramires-Oscar(to an extent). This was clearly demonstrated in the match as the City midfielders had a better day in the office. Lampard and Ramires are never an ideal choice for the double pivot, them getting caught out of position and getting run over by opponent players is a stark example. But Mourinho has kept faith in the pair, mostly because of the variance they offer for Chelsea when in attack mode. Ramires is an asset for almost any team, with his energy and occasional turbo bursts and Lampard is adept at finding his teammates with pin point accuracy, no wonder comparisons are being drawn to Xabi Alonso. But the area where they struggle is to protect the defensive shape. Chelsea are often caught napping on the counter and the defenders are left to deal with the overloads.

Javi Garcia: Passing (Source: www.squawka.com)

The midfield trio of Man City commanded the central zone and pegged Chelsea back and forced them to defend deep. The equation for the dominating spell for City was simple. Silva drifted into the center providing a passing option and City kept their focus on the left flank of Chelsea. Nasri, who was already on that flank with Zabaleta was also accompanied by Toure and Garcia. This created an overload on that flank with Schurrle, Cole and Lampard outnumbered. The passing charts indicate the amount of time City spent trying to attack from their right flank. This overload forced Schurrle to play very deep and provide cover for Ashley Cole. Meanwhile, Silva and Fernandinho enjoyed their own domination over Ramires and Oscar in the central areas with Yaya Toure lending a helping hand. Simply put, it was Toure who was pulling the strings for City providing a passing option everywhere on the pitch.

Yaya toure: Passing (Source: www.squawka.com)

On the contrary, Chelsea were comfortable defending deep and tried to attack from their right flank. Ivanovic was aggressive all night, both in his positioning and approach. He took on Silva and Clichy and linked up well with Oscar and Torres. Chelsea were getting outplayed in the midfield, so they opted to play on the counter. Schurrle moved into attacking positions and played more centrally and let Hazard deal with the defensive duties. This brought Torres into the game and Chelsea were one up after 33 minutes with a tap in from Andre Schurrle, Torres the provider after a quick burst past Clichy and a precise cross. It was Clichy that was targeted from then on until the end of the half. Chelsea had a few more half chances, all from the right flank.

Schurrle acknowledges the fans after his goal

Second Half

Chelsea couldn’t carry the positive momentum from the first half into the second and straight away City were dictating the play. Sergio Aguero made a clever run on the back of Cahill and fired a cannon into Cech’s goal, the keeper unmoved. The shot was taken on the first touch and was very quick, this didn’t give time for Cech to react and it was all square. The match remained in balance up until the mark when substitutions were made.

Manchester City – Passing in First Half (Source: www.squawka.com)

Manchester City – Passing in Second Half (Source: www.squawka.com)

Schurrle was now playing with Ivanovic on the right flank of Chelsea and City now targeted this flank. Perhaps, they didn’t want to leave much space behind them on the flank Hazard was positioned. The threat he poses on the counter is matched by very few, and City had to respect that. David Silva was showing signs of improvement in his play after being ineffective for almost a season. He was another key player for City who was on song with his intelligent play. As Silva drifted inwards, Fernandinho had license to move into advanced positions to influence play and this was helping City maintain the tempo of their passing. Chelsea were still short in numbers in midfield but they were effective whenever they had the ball.

David Silva: Action Areas (Source: www.squawka.com)

To counter the overloads, Mourinho introduced Willian for Andre Schurrle and Mikel for Frank Lampard. Lampard and Ramires were cautioned already and fresh legs were needed in the middle. Mikel brought stability for Chelsea and this allowed Ramires to bomb forward. Willian drifted infield from the right flank and helped make up the numbers. City’s threat in the middle got nullified with this. Pellegrini quickly brought on Jesus Navas for Samir Nasri. This was a good change as Navas offers more directness. But Chelsea were not going to settle for the draw. Man City needed a much bigger reply. Pellegrini offered that in the form of Kolarov. Javi Garcia came off and Toure dropped back beside Fernandinho. Kolarov slotted into the left flank. City now had two accurate and deadly crossers of the ball on their wings.

Aguero with a Piledriver into Cech’s net

But this had a negative impact for the visitors as they looked disorganized. With midfield numbers depleted, City handed the baton to Chelsea, who stamped their authority with good linkups. Mikel, Ramires, Willian and Oscar were taking on Silva, Toure and Fernandinho. Eden Hazard was offering a good outlet on the left flank. But it was a great performance from the Belgian as he looked choppy thoughout the evening. Eto’o came on for Hazard for Chelsea and Negredo for Aguero for City. The match was poised for a 1-1 draw and teams too were expressing that in their play. But a speculative punt from Willian on 90 minute mark brought about the winner for Chelsea. The long ball from Willian forced Nastasic into heading it into his keeper’s hands. But Joe Hart had other ideas, as he himself came for the ball and Nastasic’s header landed in front of the open goal. A cool-headed Torres ran past the pair and helped the ball into the net as Demichelis tried in vain to contain the Spaniard.

Hart and Nastasic watch on as Torres goes for the goal

It was an incredible result for Chelsea, and Mourinho couldn’t help himself from celebrating the goal with the fans behind the dugout. The repetitive mistakes from England and City’s No.1, will come under extreme scrutiny in the coming days. Manuel Pellegrini rushed in after the final whistle, leaving Mourinho nobody from the opponent team to shake his hands. This won’t be complete without a piece on the man of the moment for Chelsea, Fernando Torres.

Torres

Where to start? The 10 yard sitter he missed struck fear in the Stamford Bridge faithful and brought back memories from Old Trafford. But that wasn’t going to last as Torres picked himself up and aimed for the stars. His performance was top class, and had that shot gone in which rattled the bar in the first half, Stamford Bridge’s roof would surely had come off. The turn and quick shot reminded of the goal Torres scored on Sunderland when he played for Liverpool. He might have had only 15 passes in the whole match but his work rate played a key role. The confidence radiating from Torres is showing signs of his old self. Besides the showboating, it was his will to take on defenders that impressed the most. Chelsea who appeared as if they were playing with 10 men over the last 2 seasons, when Torres was the striker, finally have a confident, fiery and hungry player to lead the line. A hungry and confident Torres is always dangerous for the opposition and teams will duly make note of this.

Torres firing in the winning goal

Martin Demichelis was on the receiving end of the brilliant performance from Torres. Demichelis was always second best to the Spaniard, be it tackles or aerial duels. This duel was the key battle in the match as Torres’s igniting play helped Chelsea play much better football. The Argentinian defender didn’t track Schurrle properly for the first goal and was the biggest liability for Pellegrini, the whole night. He could have communicated to Hart to stay on his line as Nastasic headed the ball, which could have seen them gain a point from the match. While Nastasic and Hart will be blamed for the loss, a better performance from Demichelis would have resulted in a different outcome.

Top of the Match: Fernando Torres

Flop of the Match: Matija Nastasic