Manchester City put their preseason doubters to shame with a dominating 3-0 win over an outmatched Chelsea side earlier this morning.
It was a high intensity affair from the opening whistle at the Etihad, with Sergio Aguero coming close to putting the Sky Blues ahead within the first 30 seconds, fed a brilliant long pass and only denied when one-on-one with Asmir Begovic.
Although the Londoners also looked good moving forward, the majority of the pressure was being applied by City as further chances followed for the Argentine, who was able to repeatedly break away from his markers. After causing trouble with the pace and creativity of their attack, Pellegrini’s men opened the scoring when Aguero was found at the top of the box by Yaya Toure, twisting around the defence before unleashing a strike which curled inside the far post.
It was perhaps down to some Begovic acrobatics that the scoreline remained 1-0 at half-time, yet the game remained at the same fever pitch following the restart, the ball flowing freely from end-to-end as both teams looked for a gap. While the champions were able to create some momentum, this did not translate into chances on goal, City’s memorable win sealed by goals from Vincent Kompany in the 79th minute and Fernandinho in the 85th.
Scintillating Sergio off the mark in 2015-16
Making his first start for the season and appearing ready to burst a hole through the net, after terrorising John Terry and Gary Cahill, the Argentine superstar would open the scoring in style for the hosts. Some quick passing opened-up space inside the box for City’s hitman to shoot around numerous Chelsea defenders , wrapping the ball around the outstretched Begovic.
There was surprisingly little resistance as Aguero continuously skipped head-on towards the visiting back four, and quite possibly could-have scored a hat-trick in the first-half alone if the goalkeeper had not equally been up to the challenge. With his 2015-16 account now open, last year’s golden boot winner is looking more than capable of recording another 25+ goal campaign.
Is the bus being broken down?
There were few things more frustrating for football fans in 2014-15 than watching their teams attempt to put the ball past Mourinho’s back four. Inviting pressure from the opposition, repeated crosses from the flanks or passes down the centre of the pitch would crash and rebound off the likes of Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, and they were always at their best in the fixtures against the fellow Premier League heavyweights.
There has been little done by the manager to evolve this gameplan for the new season, however, while the main challengers for their title have heavily strengthened their sides. Judging by the results so far and the manner in which Chelsea have conceded five goals, Mourinho’s bus has problems trying to match speed with the attacking rockets possessed by other teams.
Eden Hazard came the closest to pulling a goal back in the closing moments, hitting the post after a commanding run into the 18-yard box. Fellow playmaker Fabregas provided some smooth passing around the danger areas, but could not create any serious opportunities. With the level of competition in this year’s Premier League and zero points to show on the table after two games, the Blues need to snap-out of the complacent slump that is currently hampering their play and seriously start getting on with the business of defending the title.
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Was City written-off too quickly?
After not only failing to defend the Premier League crown, but also ending the previous season without any silverware whatsoever, Pellegrini’s side were forecast to have an even further disappointing 2015-16 by many pundits. But their performances in the first two games should have the doubters double-guessing, as with a point to prove City enacted some revenge on the team that knocked them down from the top perch.
The creative attacking potential of Raheem Sterling, Silva and Aguero is beginning to take shape, this coupled with the possibility of Yaya Toure being back in-form and a revamped Kompany, means City once more have a setup that could be confident to challenge the elite of world football.
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