Without the reassuring presence of Nemanja Matic, whose injury gave way to Cesc Fàbregas to start next to N'Golo Kanté in midfield, things didn't start well for Chelsea on Saturday against Manchester City. The Citizens' relentless pressure eventually made Chelsea break in the first half, an awful clearance from Gary Cahill giving the home team the lead on 45 minutes.
The second half saw Chelsea turn our fortunes around once again, we grabbing three goals and all three points as City completely lost the plot. Afterwards, the once again stand-in captain for Chelsea, Gary Cahill spoke on Chelsea's performance and how glad he is to have the team on an eight-win streak in the Premier League.
"We were 1-0 down but we had a lot of pressure to soak up in the first half. We knew we were in the game. We got to 1-1 and started building the momentum and showed a lot of character."
"We're not at Christmas yet but it's encouraging to have eight wins [in a row] now and it was a test. We showed another side to our football and we're delighted."
-Gary Cahill; source: Sky Sports via ITV
Chelsea's turnaround was keyed by Diego Costa, who scored the team's first goal and provided the assist for the second, which was scored by fellow Brazilian player Willian. Eden Hazard, who also got on the scoresheet today with a late goal to seal Manchester City's destiny, lauded Diego's discipline and his contributions to the team.
"I think this is the big change. Before [Diego Costa] was scoring a lot but sometimes got a yellow or red card. Today he scored and made an assist. He’s on fire since the start of the season. I want it to continue."
"[We’ve won] eight in a row – not every year you can do this. To win here after being behind at half-time is very good. We showed great character against Tottenham, today again."
-Eden Hazard; source: Sky Sports via Metro
With 34 points and a +21 goal difference record in 14 matches, Chelsea will remain at the top of the Premier League even if Liverpool beat Bournemouth at the Dean Court tomorrow. Next weekend we face always annoying West Bromwich Albion.
Forza, Chelsea!