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

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