Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea, Premier League: Post-match reaction; ratings

A heavily rotated Manchester City team could have given Chelsea a glimmer of hope, if it was not for our own starting eleven decisions. Even with manager Pep Guardiola deciding to play second- and even third-string players of his squad, the Blues simply could not find their footing in the first minutes of the match.

Soon disaster would hit, as we would expect. Captain César Azpilicueta did manage to get one over young Cole Palmer on his flank, but failed to get him for a second time as he assisted Julián Álvarez for the Argentinian’s 17th goal of the season.

City let their guards down a bit, which means they were still giving us hell but not as much as they would if they were really looking to thrash us. In that tiny window, Chelsea did get a couple of good opportunities to score via Raheem Sterling and Conor Gallagher that were both defended by their substitute goalkeeper, Stefan Ortega.

At the start of the second half Chelsea looked much better, as City’s B/C-team started to get tired. With the hosts no longer as intense as they once were, the Blues were much more menacing in their advances.

Promise however is just as valid as a fake dollar if it is not fulfilled. Our shot volume was good, but the shots themselves were far from enough to really make Ortega’s life any difficult.

Hence the loss. Our 15th this season in the Premier League, with encounters against top-four contenders Manchester United and Newcastle as our remaining matches.

• 3-5-2/3-4-3 from Chelsea, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Conor Gallagher as starters. Carney Chukwuemeka, who was recently called back to Chelsea from England’s U20 World Cup squad, is a bench option.
• Subs are Mykhailo Mudryk for Conor Gallagher, Noni Madueke for Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly for Lewis Hall, Carney Chukwuemeka for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Christian Pulisic for Kai Havertz.
• The play leading up to Julián Álvarez goal’s was not a good look for any Premier League team.
• At least we made their goalkeeper do some actual goalkeeping, instead of just playing as a sweeper-keeper!
• Better coaching is supposed to make this team look much better than it does right now given the “raw talent” we have. That might be true for the players which have not yet zoned out of the season, such as Hall and Sterling.
• Next up: Manchester United at Old Trafford.
• KTBFFH!

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