In truth, Manchester City should have been at least two goals to the good before Chelsea scored their first goal at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The glaring miss by Kevin de Bruyne was the pick of the chances that City somehow managed to let slip away from them and Pep Guardiola’s reaction on the touchline told you everything you needed to know.
The Spaniard must realise he cannot rely on his defence to deal with any type of attacking situation and when the chances went begging, he knew Chelsea would eventually create something of note and take it. That’s exactly what happened and Diego Costa brushed aside Nicolas Otamendi with ease before firing the ball beyond Claudio Bravo in the City goal. The Argentine defender was then turned on the half-way line by Costa, which meant he was out of the game and the Chelsea striker slid in Willian, who provided a neat finish. As the clock was ticking down, Eden Hazard picked the ball up and ran half the length of the pitch without being troubled before finding the back of the net and celebrating three points with the away fans.
Let’s be clear here, Manchester City created plenty of chances to score goals themselves and if they had taken them it could have been a different story. However, it was fast becoming a frustrating day in-front of goal and a look at the statistical trends before the game, showed Manchester City had only scored 1 goal in each of their last three home Premier League matches. So, it should not have come as a surprise to see them failing to hit the back of the net more than once in the game.
It should also not come as a surprise to see them concede a goal and they kept just two clean sheets in fourteen Premier League matches this season, with one coming at home and the other away.
There are two solutions to this problem. Either they must start taking their chances in games, which means even if they conceded one or two goals, it will not prevent them from winning matches. The other option is to sort out the defence but at this moment in time, where does the manager start? Both Otamendi and John Stones look error prone but how can you drop players who have cost the club a combined total of £85 million? On top of that, new goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo does not look like a goalkeeper who is promoting much confidence in his defence. The Chilean looks unsettled in the City goal and for Chelsea’s second strike, he didn’t give himself any chance of making a save and watched on as the ball rolled into the back of the net.
It’s now three wins in eight Premier League games for Manchester City and it appears the only way to put a consistent run of victories together is going to be by shoring up the defence. Will this involve spending more money in the transfer market and if so, who could come in to the club? Defensive acquisitions have been poor in recent transfer windows so what’s to say January will be any different?
It’s advantage Chelsea in the title race.