Highlights
city slickers
REVENGE was on the menu at Stamford Bridge last night as Kevin De Bruyne proved a point to Chelsea.
De Bruyne kept Manchester City level at the top of the Premier League with the crucial goal against his old team – and showed why they were wrong to sell him.
“Chelsea reject,” was the ironic chant from the City fans.
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It was a beauty from the Belgian, a stunner into the top corner that sealed a victory that City fully deserved.
With the game deadlocked, he shifted Nicolas Otamendi’s pass into the heart of Chelsea’s defence.
After swapping passes with Gabriel Jesus, De Bruyne reached the edge of the area and fired into the top corner.
His passing and control of games in midfield has been compared to Paul Scholes – and the Manchester United legend would have been proud of yesterday’s winner.
If Chelsea end up losing their title, De Bruyne will played a big role if City end up winning it.
It makes a mockery of Jose Mourinho’s decision to sell De Bruyne back in 2014 when he couldn’t get in the Chelsea team.
PLAYER RATINGS: Was KDB Dream Team star man? See how your players rated
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After making a name for himself at Wolfsburg, KDB is now back in the Premier League proving everyone wrong.
It was such a big win for Pep Guardiola’s team.
This time last year teams were getting to grips with their style and getting results against them.
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The last week has also seen Guardiola lose his left-back Benjamin Mendy to a serious injury and Sergio Aguero after his car crash in Amsterdam.
It looked like Chelsea might frustrate them and stifle them but then De Bruyne popped up with his moment of magic.
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Antonio Conte, meanwhile is now sweating on Alvaro Morata’s fitness after he limped off clutching his hamstring.
It could be a blow for them if he fails to recover over the international break. And in this clash, it meant Willian coming on and playing without an out-and-out striker until De Bruyne had opened the scoring.
NO REGRETS Kevin De Bruyne taunts Chelsea by claiming joining Man City made him better after Bridge snub
Michy Batshuayi may have scored the winner against Atletico Madrid in midweek but Conte kept his remaining forward on the bench and tried to keep it tight.
It was understandable as City were flying at the champions with pace.
After an early threat when Morata nodded over, it was a case of City picking through Conte’s defence but failing to put the finishing touch to their moves.
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While Conte was decked out in a crisp suit, Pep was informal in a hooded jacket and white trainers looking ready for a night out down the King’s Road.
Raheem Sterling was guilty of being casual too with the biggest chance of the first half.
He raced through and had Leroy Sane and David Silva with the goal at their mercy – but his cross was wayward.
That was just one of the attacks that City launched and found space in opposing territory.
Thibaut Courtois was also down sharply at the foot of his post to keep out a viscous drive from Silva.
The Chelsea keeper was also at full-stretch to keep out Fernandinho’s thumping header.
Courtois’ only slip-up in the first half was dithering on a kick, which Jesus charged down.
The ball could easily have ended up in the back of the net – but luckily for Courtois it fell wide.
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At the other end, Ederson kept out a drive when Cesar Az[ilicueta got sight of goal from the edge of the area.
But the Chelsea wing-back and his team-mate spent lots of time on the back foot too.
With Morata off, the middle of the park was congested and there were plenty of mistakes, mis-timed tackles and possession changing hands.
It was played at 100 miles-per-hour with barely time to think on the ball.
There was even a little needle in the dug-out, with Conte upset when Sterling went to ground in the early stages.
“Twice” he yelled at fourth official Andre Marriner after the England star claimed free-kicks.
When Silva went over, Conte wanted him booked.
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City’s bench also questioned the officials in the second half when they had a couple of penalty shouts.
The first was when Jesus ran into Andreas Christensen as he dashed into the penalty area, the second when Marcos Alonso ran across Sane. Both times Martin Atkinson refused to point the spot.
The two sets of staff have previous, with last year’s fixture ending in a tunnel bust-up – and there was always an edge with the game so tight.
INTERACTIVE STATS - CLICK on the categories to find out how the teams fared
De Bruyne ended up settling the match with his second of the week after scoring against Shakhtar Donetsk.
He raced over to the away fans and celebrated wildly with the City subs at what could be a key moment in the title race.
Jesus could easily have added another when his powerful header beat Courtois – but Antonio Rudiger was on the line and spectacularly cleared.
De Bruyne came off to an ovation in stoppage-time and even gave appreciation to the Chelsea fans. There’s no grudge on his behalf – and he proved his point with the goal.
FACTS, STATS, GOALS AND LOLS
- Both Chelsea and City have been in hot goalscoring form this season - before this match they had scored 33 goals between them in six games each.
- The two clubs were also the dirtiest teams in the Premier League coming into this weekend's fixtures. City top the FA's bad-boy table with Chelsea in second place.
- Chelsea have lost only one of their last seven PL games against City at Stamford Bridge (W4 D2), with their 0-3 defeat to City in April 2016 one of only six occasions in the Premier League they’ve lost by a margin of three goals at Stamford Bridge.
INTERACTIVE LINE-UPS - CLICK on a player's number to see their stats
- Guardiola had faced Chelsea seven times as a manager before today and failed to win any (D4 L3), more than against any other side.
- Guardiola has only faced three other clubs in his managerial career without winning, all of them British sides – Everton (three games), Celtic (two) and Spurs (also two).
- Eden Hazard has had a hand in five goals in his last five Premier League appearances against the Citizens (three goals, two assists).
