Five things we learned from City’s win over Chelsea
Manchester City dominated Chelsea from start to finish in rout at the Etihad stadium
Manchester City made it back-to-back 3-0 wins to inflict Jose Mourinho’s joint-heaviest defeat in the Premier League.
City controlled the entire match and despite Mourinho‘s claim that the result was “fake”, it could’ve been much worse for the defending champions.
Goals came courtesy of Sergio Aguero‘s first of the campaign, Vincent Kompany‘s second header in as many games and a late strike from Fernandinho.
It may well only be two games in but this was certainly a commanding message from City and could already be pivotal in this season’s title race.
With Chelsea already five points off the pace and Mourinho subbing John Terry for the first time under his reign, there were plenty of things to take away from this game.
Here’s five things we learned from this shocking defeat.
5) Big boys gone missing
Chelsea romped to the Premier League title last season and it was purely down to the core of their team.
Cesc Fabregas, who topped with the most assists at 19 last season, was so often the provider to main striker Diego Costa and the brilliance of PFA Player of the Year, Eden Hazard.
Yet on Sunday, these players were all at sea. Costa spent the majority of the game looking for a scrap instead of the back of the net and Fabregas was ineffective both defensively and couldn’t provide anything going forward.
While Hazard simply failed to establish his presence in the game and was dealt with comfortably by the City back four.
Captain fantastic John Terry was substituted for the first time under Mourinho and was possibly the biggest message to Roman Abramovich that they need to strengthen.
4) Begovic looks great back-up
Despite a disappointing start to his career at Chelsea, with some high-profile mistakes during pre season, the Bosnian international was in fine form at the Etihad.
He was locked in a personal first-half duel with Aguero and made three superb stops to keep out the Premier League‘s top marksman.
There was little he could do with all the goals, the first a piece of magic by the Argentinian, and both the second and third were defensive mistakes by Branislav Ivanović.
Begovic has the unfortunate statistic of conceding 10 goals in 305 minutes for Chelsea, conceding on average every 30 minutes, but if he performs to the same ability and the defence irons out the mistakes, he will soon be on the winning side.
3) Blame game again from Mourinho
Two weeks ago it was Eva Carneiro who got most of the blame during Chelsea‘s opening day draw with Swansea, now it was everyone but.
Mourinho firstly vented his frustration at the scoreline claiming the it was a “fake result” and that Chelsea should’ve got something from the game. That despite The Blues taking until the 70th minute to register their first shot on target.
He also criticised the officials for failing to send off both Fernandinho and Yaya Toure for separate incidents, which would’ve changed the game completely.
His final attack came against the media for double standards after City substituted Raheem Sterling for Martin Demichelis, a decision which Mourinho claimed “is the sort of change I get criticised for all the time”.
Mourinho can continue pinning the blame on others but the fact of the matter is Chelsea have not won a game in 90 minutes since they defeated Sydney FC in a pre season friendly on 2nd June.
2) City have goals all over the field
Two games in, six scored, not one conceded, top striker is off the mark, two goals from defence and three from midfield – perfect start, eh?
City have began this campaign with huge intentions of retrieving the Premier League crown and have goal-scoring threats all across the team.
Aguero made it 10 goals in his last 10 league games for the Citizens and has now scored 79 times since his debut in August 2011, more than any other player.
Yaya Toure has re-found his form from two seasons ago, notching up three goals and two assists in his last four league games.
While the captain Kompany has scored in back-to-back games for the first time since December 2013 and has registered more attempts on target than misfiring strikers Wayne Rooney and Diego Costa.
1) Aguero, when fit, is unplayable
With 10 goals in his last 10 league games, it is fair to say when Aguero starts he usually scores.
Despite his injuries last season, he finished as the Premier League‘s top goal-scorer with 26 goals, five ahead of nearest rival Harry Kane.
A new number on his back this season, switching from his famous No.16 to wear the famous No.10, doesn’t seem to make a difference as he still looks as sharp as ever.
He could’ve easily had a first-half hat-trick if it wasn’t for the brilliance of Begovic but he kept his head up and on the half hour mark, he showed great balance and footwork to weave around Gary Cahill before slotting into the far corner.
If he has an injury-free season then he could break the record for most Premier League goals in a 38 game format. The record currently stands at 31, jointly-held by Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers, 95/96), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, 07/08) and Luis Suarez (Liverpool, 13/14).
Written by Tom Sutton – @T0MSUTT0N