Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City: All the stats as Joe Hart horrorshow lets Torres score winner

Fernando Torres‘s late strike gave Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea all three points in an exhilarating 2-1 win over title rivals Manchester City in the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.

Andre Schurrle opened the scoring for the hosts in the first-half before Sergio Aguero equalised for the Citizens after the break, but Matija Nastasic’s error allowed Torres to tuck away the decisive goal in the final minutes of the game.

Key Stats:

The statistics shows just how even a contest it was and in truth, neither side deserved to lose the game. City edged it slightly due to Mourinho’s tactics but the Portuguese tactician’s gamble paid off in the end.

It was also a very high quality game with plenty of stars on the top of their game, as demonstrated by the 81 per cent pass completion rate for both sides.

Performance Score:

The game unfolded in three distinct phases and the Squawka performance scores reflect this. The opening stages of the match were tightly contested until Schurrle’s strike gave Chelsea the lead, giving way to a period of dominance for the Blues – led by a resurgent Torres.

Chelsea were the better side going into the break, but City’s response after the interval put Mourinho’s men on the back foot, demonstrated by their spike in performance score. After Aguero’s goal, the match became a much more even contest right up until Torres’ late intervention.

Man of the Match: Sergio Aguero

Aguero takes our man-of-the-match award with a Squawka performance score of 48 – just pipping Torres who notched 41 points courtesy of a goal and an assist. But it was the Argentine’s all-round display that caught the eye, including a scorching effort that flew past Cech and into the net for the equaliser.

The City hit-man continued his sensational form of late with an 80 per cent shot accuracy from five shots and an 80 per cent pass accuracy rate. Aguero was also involved in the defensive side of the game too, with one tackle and two headed duels for a 100 per cent success rate in both department.

Key Observations:

Chelsea and Manchester City’s performances were inspired by their two leading strikers – Torres and Aguero. Torres tore past Clichy with a burst of pace not seen since his Liverpool days and set up Andre Schurrle with a superb assist. Aguero then levelled proceedings with a stunning strike after the break, although replays showed that goalkeeper Petr Cech could have done a lot better to deny the forward. But it would be Torres that provided the winner as he skipped past Hart to pounce on Nastasic’s overhit header.

Elsewhere. it was a frenetic contest with the action swinging from one end of the pitch to the other with little respite. Both defences had to be on top form to deny their opponents, and ultimately restricted both sides to very few clear-cut chances although plenty of shots were attempted.

Blues boss Jose Mourinho clearly had a game-plan in mind to exploit City’s weaknesses on the counter-attack and it paid off in spades as Torres grabbed the winner with a swift break in the final minutes of the game. The hosts had a game-plan and stuck to it while their opponents tried to play their usual game, and it worked – even if it took until the last few minutes to secure all three points.