Chelsea vs Manchester City I FA Community Shield I 05/8/2018
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| Picture from TalkSport |
The Premier League opener was between two teams bookmakers had tipped highly to be contenders for the title this season. On one side is Pep Guardiola’s dominant team who had romped to victory with a 19 points difference to 2nd place Manchester United, upgraded with the signing of Riyad Mahrez. On the other side of the pitch is the Blues, revamped under a new coach, Maurizio Sarri, with an attacking brand of football and showing off the signing they had swiped under Manchester City’s noses; Jorginho.
But it was in the end a one-sided game at the Wembley Stadium with the players in the lighter Blue shirts taking off where they ended the previous season. Guardiola’s team continued with their brand of smart movement and technically sharp players to keep and win possession as well as fast penetrative players in Aguero and Mahrez who played next to the last man.
Chelsea attempted to play their new style of play but City’s pressing and positioning of their players thwart whatever plans they may have to win last season’s champions. At the end of the day, a 2-0 scoreline is simply a good warm up for Chelsea and an ominous warning to every other teams in the Premier League on the coming of Manchester City.
The game seemingly ended with Aguero’s goal at the 13th minute. A pass by Fernandinho allowed the young Fodin to run through Chelsea’s half. He laid off to Aguero who took a touch to open up space and unleashed a shot through Rudiger’s legs beyond Caballero’s open arms.
Aguero 13’ MC 1-0 CHE
The second half followed the same script for both teams albeit with several substitutions and different personals. On the 58th minute, as if on a repeat of the previous goal, Aguero was easily fed the ball by Fodin and he took his shot early to easily increase Manchester City's lead.
Aguero 58' MC 2-0 CHE
Match Highlight
Chelsea played with a 4-2-1-3. Dave retained his earlier RB
position from 2 seasons ago. Rudiger fitted in at CB with David Luiz while
Alonso retained his LB position from earlier preseason games. At midfield, Jorginho
and Fabregas played from deep, aiming to dictate play with Ross Barkley
slightly ahead. The electric Hudson-Odoi played on the LW while Pedro played at
RW. Morata started the game as Chelsea’s striker again.
Generally the team was outplayed by Manchester City but it
is not an indicator of the team’s weakness as our team do have the quality and
flashes of brilliance. It is really just that Manchester City was too good.
Man Of The MatchChelsea’s Man Of The Match
Willy Caballero deservingly should be Chelsea’s MOTM with a
number of saves to keep the scoreline low.
Player Ratings
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Goalkeeper
Willy Caballero 8The Argentinian could not do much with the goals but he did keep out a number of others including a 1v1 against Aguero. Comparatively to Bravo who was plain embarrassing in the first half (though he did keep a cleansheet), Caballero was good, but not great.
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Defenders
Cesar Azpilicueta 6.5
The defence was easily penetrated by long simple balls from
deep from Manchester City where all of Chelsea’s defenders were defeated by
pace. Need some tinkering here…
Antonio Rudiger 7
Honestly, he was the most solid Chelsea defender in the game
but he still was not quick nor defensively smart enough to keep out Manchester
City’s attackers.
David Luiz 6
Did not impact much of the game. Beaten by pace again and
again by Aguero. His strengths were not allowed to shine and his frailties are
openly exposed.
Marcos Alonso 6
It is about time Chelsea deserves an upgrade on the LB.
Alonso is neither good at defending nor attacking. His strengths lie in his
passing and freekicks, both limited by Manchester City’s close pressing.
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Midfielders
Jorginho 7
As the hype is, he did receive a lot of balls which he attempted
to quickly move and pass around. The problem is, Manchester City pressed so
much and so high through the middle, he really had his chances to shine
severely limited. A good welcome for him and he should know by now what simple
misplaced passes can do to your team’s fortune as he did misplace a few passes
that almost led to goals.
Fabregas 7
He did alright, with some good passes and some defense work.
But it was not enough as Chelsea could not dominate the midfield.
Ross Barkley 6
Maybe we do need a better CAM, one who is pacier and better
able to retain the ball than Ross Barkley. Don’t get me wrong, Barkley is a technically
good player and quite good at dribbling and passing but it really is not
outstanding enough for Chelsea. Perhaps Hazard should fill his role…
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Strikers
Alvaro Morata 6
It is a curiosity to see how fast his confidence vanished
with a few misplaced touches and passes in the first half. He was a main
culprit for Chelsea losing possession but in due fairness, the quality to
service to him was not there. Chelsea were simply outplayed.
Pedro 6.5
He did try to influence play with his jinking runs and pace
but the problem is, Manchester City’s players are equally fast and up to the task
to pocket him comfortably.
Callum Hudson-Odoi 7
Much have been touted about this 17 year old wunderkid and
it is no wonder. He was visibly Chelsea’s best forward in the first half. We
all remember him outpacing Hector Bellerin, who had a 100 pace rating in FIFA
TOTS, but Kyle Walker was up to the task of containing him with some better
positioning.
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