City Take Derby Honours
First things first then: the Manchester Derby well and truly lived up to the hype. This was one of the best games of football that I've seen in a long time. For 40 minutes or so, City were completely and utterly dominant, a magnificent display of football beyond anything I've seen from them, or any Premier League club, in a long time. It might be hyperbole, but for most of the first half, City played like Guardiola's Barca, making their biggest rivals, a Man United side packed with super stars and expensive players, look average. City were faster, they pressed harder and they thoroughly exposed the holes in United's defence. Daley Blind and Eric Bailly were horribly outmatched, out of their depth and United were run ragged. Kevin De Bruyne, who was man of the match, and David Silva, who wasn't far behind him, ran the show, with quick, incisive passing and complete control of the match. These two looked every inch the real deal, and Fernandinho behind them ran more than the entire Man United midfield, a static and lethargic Fellaini, Rooney and Pogba who collectively offered nothing, put together.
That of course, was just the opening 40 minutes, but it was in those minutes that City won the game, Kelechi Iheanacho and Kevin De Bruyne twice combining to do the damage. First a long ball up field was flicked on by Iheanacho, who was under no pressure from challenging defender Bailly (if challenging is an appropriate word for standing nearby), and Daley Blind stood off, again offering no challenge, allowing De Bruyne to nip in and run in on goal, firing a smart finish past the on-rushing David De Gea. And then, a neat turn in the box from De Bruyne left two United defenders for dead, his shot hit the post and Iheanacho, stood in the middle of the goal, two yards closer than any defender except Blind, who was stood miles away from the action and playing Iheanacho onside, slotted in the second goal.
At this point it looked like damage limitation for United, as memories of 2011's 6-1 come flooding back. But then City's new goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo, dropped an absolute clanger. A long ball in from Rooney and under pressure from nobody except John Stones, Bravo promptly dropped the ball at the feet of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who fired in a superb half-volley to get United back in the match.
Bravo's nightmare only got worse, as he twice more failed to deal with balls into the box before half time, gifting Ibrahimovic two golden chances. The first he headed straight at Bravo instead of across goal, and the second he snatched at, allowing Stones to clear.
The second half as a result was a much more even game. City brought on Fernando to steady the ship, United had more possession and tested City's defence. Bravo was once again exposed, as he miscontrolled an easy ball, allowing Wayne Rooney to nip on him. Both players went in two-footed, both risking at least a yellow. Bravo got the ball, so no penalty was given (rightfully in my opinion although it was extremely reckless). And Bravo made a couple more mishaps before the game was out, but City held on, and even came closest to scoring the game's fourth goal, with Kevin De Bruyne hitting the inside of the post from a tricky angle and De Gea denying Fernando and Otamendi off a corner.
Overall, this was a game that City deserved to win. They pressed the ball so much better than United, had so much more creativity and pace in their midfield, and just looked the better team. The first half was incredible from City, and even in the second they created far more than United. But that said, Bravo really was the weak link in this City side. He made mistake after mistake, gifted United a handful of glorious openings.
I've already highlighted the performances of Fernandinho, De Bruyne and Silva, who were different class for City in the midfield, but I also wanted to highlight a couple of sterling defensive performances. First of all, for City, Otamendi, who for a long time has been subject to ridicule in the City defence, was easily the best defender on the pitch, putting in a string of brilliant tackles and blocks and also showing why his passing game is also underrated, as United were happy to let him have the ball time and again and it didn't end well for them. And for United, Luke Shaw was easily their best player, the only United player that can come out of this feeling he played better than his opposite number (apart from De Gea by default). Time and again he intercepted, tackled and blocked, keeping one of the league's in form players, Raheem Sterling, out of the game. It's telling that so many of City's positive attacks came from the left hand side, United's right.
And finally, I want to praise Mark Clattenburg for his performance. He kept a lid on the game, and got almost all of the big decisions right, although he showed a baffling unwillingness to book serial offender Rooney, who'd commited at least four or five bookable offences before finally ending up in the referee's notebook. How he was allowed to stay on the pitch is beyond me, except that he's England's captain.
But overall, United will look at this game and see that they have a real problem, because City are streets ahead at the moment. Yes, the game was much closer in the second half, but even then, United lacked the pace, energy and movement in midfield to challenge City and if City had had a semi-competent keeper on the pitch, the scoreline wouldn't have been so close. If this was Pep vs Mourinho then there's no doubt who won the battle, or at least the first salvo. The question is, who will win the war? On this evidence, there's only one winner. First blood to Manchester City.
Chelsea Falter At The Liberty
Chelsea's early season form has been impressive on paper, with three wins out of three against West Ham, Watford and Burnley. But against both West Ham and Watford, they required late winners from Diego Costa, who shouldn't have been on the pitch in either game, to steal the result. The caliber of Chelsea's opposition is such that they haven't been properly tested yet, and it will be interesting to see if they are ready to topple a Liverpool side who bested them last season and are starting to look good in this campaign.
But against Swansea yesterday afternoon, Chelsea's luck ran out. They looked to be cruising after Diego Costa fired them in front with a smart finish after a poor clearance from Fernandez allowed Oscar to find the striker inside the box. But Chelsea never took control of the game, and two goals in four minutes either side of the hour mark controversially gave Swansea the lead as they turned the game on its head. First a penalty from Gylfi Sigurdsson, after Courtois came charging out to tackle and felled the Icelandic attacker, followed by a goal from Leroy Fer, who clipped the heels of Gary Cahill before charging in on goal and scrambling the ball beyond Courtois and into the net. He definitely fouled Cahill and the goal shouldn't have stood.
But for Chelsea, it certainly wasn't the case that they were robbed by the referee, as they could easily have finished the game with nine men. Diego Costa, who was once again on hand to score late on to this time secure a point, a dramatic aerial finish that took a huge deflection, once again shouldn't have been on the pitch, as he dived whilst on a yellow card. And Eden Hazard also should have been sent off for dragging down Barrow who was in on goal. Hazard got a yellow because Barrow was about 50 yards from goal, but for me it deserved a red.It baffles me that three games out of four this season, Costa should have been sent off, yet referees continue to let him get away with murder. Costa is undoubtedly one of the league's finest strikers, as evidenced by his goal return, up there with Aguero and Ibrahimovic, but he's also what some people call the "master of the dark arts". Let's call it what it is: thuggery and cheating. Some people praise his inability to get sent off and say that that makes him the player he is. Personally, I find it deplorable. Plenty of world class strikers manage to score week in week out without deserving red cards almost every time they step onto the pitch.
Nevertheless, overall this was a strong performance from Chelsea, but one or two silly mistakes could easily have cost them. Courtois was all over the place for the penalty and although Cahill was fouled for the second goal, he still shouldn't have let himself get in that position. Chelsea haven't kept a clean sheet yet this season, and for a manager who is known for stoically organising defences, Chelsea look vulnerable at the back, and Liverpool are a side who can expose those vulnerabilities. But if Diego Costa keeps scoring goals, who knows where they will end up. They've got off to a great start: three wins and a draw from their opening four games, and only one team has a 100% record. So far, they are bang in the title race.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Arsenal needed a late penalty to see off Saints
- Spurs flattened Stoke, who are in trouble...
- Oh West Ham. Oh. West. Ham.
- Hales and Morgan out of Bangladesh tour.
- Big wins for Sarries, Bath and Wasps. Powerhouses.
No comments:
Post a Comment