Man City 1-0 Chelsea: Manchester City have emphasized their supremacy in the Premier League by winning against Chelsea despite many changes. In the first game after officially winning the national title, the league won for the eleventh time in a row.
Man City rumbles on: victory over Chelsea as a prelude to title celebration
Kyle Walker was the only player at City on Wednesday evening in the semi-final of the Champions League against Real Madrid (4-0) who had a starting place and was allowed to start against Chelsea. Pep Guardiola was in full rotation, half a week after the masterclass against Real and a day after discharge due to the end of the title fight. Due to the defeat of competitor Arsenal at Nottingham Forest (1-0), The Citizens were already certain of their fifth Premier League title in six years on Saturday evening. The Chelsea players also reflected on that success, they formed a guard of honor when the champions emerged on Sunday.
City’s glorified B team was also a size too big for the struggling Chelsea. The home team took the lead in the twelfth minute after a very sloppy loss of possession from Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana. City switched quickly and Cole Palmer launched Julian Álvarez. The world champion showed his class by coolly beating Kepa Arrizabalaga with a shot into the far corner: 1-0.
Only after half an hour did Chelsea occasionally shake the champion. Raheem Sterling failed to score against his old club, the attacker came across goalkeeper Stefan Ortega from close range. Conor Callagher was then even closer to equalizing. He headed the ball against the post. City held onto the lead heading into half-time. The Citizens had lost just once in their last 63 Premier League games at home in which they held a lead at the halfway point. That was in May 2021 against Chelsea, where Thomas Tuchel was still the manager at the time and Hakim Ziyech scored.
Second half
There was no such turnaround in Manchester on Sunday, where the title would be celebrated after the final whistle. Pep Guardiola’s team almost gave their own supporters even more reason to cheer in the second half. Kalvin Phillips hit the post with a header. And a goal by Álvarez was rejected after intervention by the VAR due to the hands of declarer Riyad Mahrez. The worst thing for Chelsea was: City created that danger without Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland within the lines.
The 22-year-old Norwegian, who has already scored 52 times for his club this season. Only came in in the 74th minute, when Noni Madueke had just come on for Chelsea. His great principal De Bruyne made his entrance a little later. With the biggest stars within the lines, it remained 1-0 for City. Which still has four games to go this season. After the league games against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford comes the climax in the hunt for the treble. Manchester United will be the opponent in the FA Cup final on June 3. A week later, the Champions League final against Internazionale is scheduled in Istanbul.
