Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea: Player Ratings

Manchester City 1(Bernardo Silva 46') - 0 Chelsea

The clash between Manchester City and Chelsea was expected to be highly competitive and entertaining. However, this wasn't the case as the game failed to live up to expectations. Antonio Conte had put his team up once again without a striker deploying Eden Hazard in a false 9 role and had set up the team to be very defensive.

Manchester City were the ones who dominated the game, applying all the pressure while going forward. They had more than 70% of ball possession but this did not result in any real opportunities being created. With their setup, the purpose of the Blues was to defend and frustrate City as it was goalless at the half.

However, the second half began perfectly for the home side as they found the net immediately after kickoff, with Bernando Silva finding the net. The rest of the game went by with Chelsea showing no intent going forward and registered only 2 shots in the entire game. They lacked energy and passion which allowed Guardiola's team all the freedom to attack.

They were literally walking as the game progressed to the latter stages. This was one of the worst performances by Chelsea and they deservingly lost for their poor effort.

Here are the player ratings:

Manchester City

Ederson- 6/10

Ederson barely had any threat at goal. There were only two shots fired by Chelsea both of which were off target.

Kyle Walker- 6/10

Walker did not have much to do defensively but he did contain Pedro whenever the Spaniard got the ball. Going forward he was able to put in only one good cross.

Nicolas Otamendi- 6/10

The Argentinian did not have much work as Chelsea lacked any attacking threat. However, he did make 2 tackles and 3 interceptions shutting out the Blues.

Aymeric Laporte- 6.5/10

Laporte was also solid defensively and made a total of four clearances.

Oleksandr Zinchenko- 6.5/10

Zinchenko received a yellow card in the first half for an off the ball challenge. However, he once again did a good job filling in at the left back.

Kevin De Bruyne- 7.5/10

The Belgian played the long ball which caused Christensen to make the error in clearing it that further led to the goal. He completed 4 key passes and 3 dribbles along with his 90% pass accuracy.

Ilkay Gundogan- 7/10

The German was booked for a rash challenge on Eden Hazard. He registered a record 179 touches, which is the most for any Premier League.

David Silva- 8/10

Silva played the ball across to Bernardo Silva that led to the opening goal of the game.

Bernardo Silva- 8/10

Silva's curling attempt in the first half went slightly over the crossbar. However, he immediately broke the deadlock just 35 seconds into the 2nd half to give City the lead which was enough to secure the three points.

Sergio Aguero- 6/10

Aguero was able to have only one shot throughout the whole game. He was marked well by the Chelsea defence denying him any space or goalscoring chance.

Leroy Sane- 8.5/10

Sane was once again lightning quick on the left wing, causing problems for the defence. His right-footed shot was blocked by Azpilicueta on the line. He completed 8 dribbles and made 2 key passes in the game.

Substitutes

Gabriel Jesus- N/A

Jesus replaced Aguero in the 85th minute and hence had very little game time.

Danilo - N/A

Danilo came on in the 87th minute as a direct swap for Zinchenko.

Chelsea

Thibaut Courtois- 6/10

Courtois could have done better if he had stayed on his feet to save Bernardo Silva's weak footed shot that gave City a 1-0 lead.

Cesar Azpilicueta- 7/10

The Chelsea captain made an important block on the line of Leroy Sane's shot in the first half to prevent City from taking the lead. He finished the game with a total of 3 tackles and 3 clearances.

Andreas Christensen- 6.5/10

The Dane was at fault as his failed clearance from a Kevin De Bruyne long ball deflected of Azpilicueta which led to the opening goal.

Antonio Rudiger- 7/10

Rudiger was careless in the first half, making as many as 3 fouls. He eventually got a yellow card for a foul on Bernardo Silva. Despite that, he was a rock on the left side of the back three.

Victor Moses- 5.5/10

Moses had a great chance to play the ball across but instead took the shot missing the target badly. He did not have an impact going forward as he did not see much of the ball.

Cesc Fabregas- 5/10

It was a bad game for Fabregas as he only had a pass completion rate of 76%. He did play the ball forward which was squandered by Victor Moses when his shot went way off target.

Danny Drinkwater- 4/10

It was another bad game for the Leicester midfielder as he failed to have any influence replacing Bakayoko and had only 50 touches.

Marcos Alonso- 5.5/10

The wingback lacked any real threat going as he failed to make any key passes or crosses. He had a shot in the final minute of the game which went off target.

Willian- 5.5/10

It was a quiet game for the Brazilian as he completed only 3 dribbles and a pass completion rate of just 57% and had the fewest touches in the game.

Eden Hazard- 4/10

This has to be one of the worst games that the Belgian has had in a Chelsea shirt. Playing as a false 9, he had only 31 touches throughout the game with zero shots and was dispossessed twice.

Pedro- 4/10

With Hazard playing in the middle, Pedro had his chance of proving himself as a starter. But his team saw very less of the ball and when they did get the ball, the Spaniard lacked in end product.

Substitutes

Olivier Giroud- N/A

Giroud could not contribute much coming on in the 78th minute.

Emerson- N/A

Emerson replaced Pedro in the 82nd minute.

Morata- N/A

Morata was brought on very late by Conte in the 89th minute.

Edited by Kishan Prasad