25 January 2025
Man City 3 Chelsea 1
Pep Guardiola has been on a bit of a spending spree in the January transfer window, trying to fill the gaps in his squad due to injuries. It seemed apt that their next fixture be against Chelsea as they welcomed The Blues to The Etihad. Two teams meeting who had spent the sort of money on their squads that the NHS can only dream of getting from the government.
Neither clubs’ owners had perceived their encounters would be to try and secure fourth spot in the Premier League however. Two of Guardiola’s recent signings started this match as both Khusanov and Marmoush made the line-up. The Citizens were hoping that Palmer was not going to come back and haunt them, he has been a stand-out performer for Chelsea since leaving The Etihad.
A long ball downfield by the visitors was misjudged by Khusanov. As the ball bounced in the air, he tried to head it back to Ederson. The Uzbek defender got it all wrong and Jackson intercepted before squaring it for Madueke to tap into an empty net. If you Google worst-ever debuts, this will no doubt come up as the first suggestion on the list.
Maresca’s side then had a huge chance to double their lead. It was threaded into the path of Palmer, who was clean-through on goal. As he approached Ederson, he had the peace of mind to unselfishly square it to Jackson. Sadly the ball had a little too much pace on it and sent him a little wide. The striker checked and looked to find a teammate but the move broke down as City cleared.
Even at this stage of the game you wondered whether The Blues would come to rue that wasted chance. Despite recent results, this Man City team is still very fragile mentally. Had Chelsea gone two-nil up they may have folded like a house of cards. This has been the problem for Maresca’s side of late, they seem unable to put games to bed when dominating.
The hosts started to venture forward with more purpose. Playing alongside Marmoush, Haaland was playing a different role to what we are used to seeing. He was dropping into pockets of space looking to link play more. One such occasion saw him cross to the back post where it was laid off to Foden in the box. He struck a stunning shot, only to see it come thundering back off the post.
Since joining Man City, Gvardiol is best remembered more for his goals than his defending. He gets forward often and makes intelligent runs. Kovacic played a clipped pass into his path and he took it neatly on his chest. As he burst into the box, with only the keeper to beat, he tried to place his shot in the far corner but it went the wrong side of the post, just.
Guardiola’s side were getting more joy when they were playing a more direct game. Nunes was the next player to make a run into the channel but he seemed to snatch at his chance and it was blocked by Sanchez. However, the ball broke to Gvardiol and he had the simple task of slotting it into an empty net from a wide angle. The hosts had drawn level just before the break.
Straight after the interval Guardiola’s side almost went ahead. A long ball forward was poorly dealt with by Colwill. It broke to Haaland, who made a beeline for the penalty area. As he cut onto his left foot, he got a shot away towards the far corner. Sanchez got down well to make the save and The Blues were able to clear their lines.
The Norwegian then turned provider as he picked the ball up out wide. He picked a pass to new teammate Marmoush, who cut onto his right foot and let fly. It narrowly missed the top corner of the goal. The striker has been in superb form this season, out of character to previous campaigns, especially if you had ever seen him play at AFCON. He had all the mobility of some who had been recently embalmed.
It was a completely different game now, with Man City dominating. Then came another moment of madness. Ederson knocked the ball long and Haaland muscled Chalobah off the ball. For some reason, Sanchez had come sprinting off his line to meet the pair on the corner of the penalty area. The goal was empty and Haaland clipped a shot over him and into the back of the net.
Sometimes it is like the Premier League has been infiltrated by a clown troop. All of them had managed to secure first-team spots in goal for some of the biggest clubs in the land. Following that success the likes of Sanchez, Onana, Raya, Martinez and Muric had decided it was their time to entertain the masses with their shenanigans.
As time was running out for the visitors, Haaland held the ball up well on the halfway line before laying it off into the path of Foden. He ran clear with just the keeper to beat. Chelsea defenders were chasing back but the Man City playmaker slotted past Sanchez to ensure all three points were theirs. Palmer may well have started thinking about that moment where they should have gone two-nil up.
This was a big win for Pep Guardiola’s side and moved them to fourth in the table. While the Spaniard has said their sole aim is to qualify for the Champions League this season, he knows their run of fixtures coming up could make them Liverpool’s nearest rivals again soon. For Chelsea, there is still a lot for Maresca to do to get this side firing, that was there for all to see.
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