City finally beaten
Even though it wasn’t impossible, it seemed improbable before Saturday 5:30 that Manchester City would come out of the game at Stamford Bridge without even a point. Even the most loyal Chelsea fan feared the worst having considered how underwhelming they had been in the last few games coupled with City’s red hot form. The absence of Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero was not enough to neither dampen the spirit of the Champions nor increase the confidence of the former champions. There was only one expected winner here. Chelsea though, had a different script in hand.
Make no mistake, this win wasn’t about ‘What city did wrong’ but most definitely had a lot to do with ‘What Chelsea did right’. Maurizio Sarri set his side up in a similar shape to his friend and opponent Guardiola. Both managers opting for the ‘extra man in midfield’. City enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the first half -as expected- and outplayed Chelsea for large portions of the half but were limited to scrappy chances and not many clear cut chances. City have, in the absence of Kevin De Bruyne -who normally plays in the hole- resorted in many games to creating from out wide and it had worked to some effect. However, the absence of an orthodox centre forward caused City to struggle without any focal point in the box. Sarri’s men were more than happy to allow City have the ball without really ‘hurting’ them and limiting the number of times they got in behind. When they did get behind, Chelsea’s defence were up to task to recover and complicate the situation. Moreover, City’s high line in defence left them susceptible to a counter attack if the press could be broken. One of such situations was in the 44th minute, when a long cross field ball went over the city midfield. Suddenly, they were caught in a very uncomfortable position and Chelsea made them pay the full price. When facing a team that keeps the ball as well as Pep Guardiola’s men do, chances are you are going to be limited to these ‘odd’ openings. What you have to do is to grasp it with all you’ve got and in that moment, Chelsea did just that. They had their moment and made the most out of it. Guardiola’s men were behind for only the second time this season and had gone into half time on the losing end for the first time in over a year.
City struggled to control the second half as well as they did in the first as Chelsea grew more confident and dealt with whatever they threw at them. Pep brought on Jesus for Sane, to switch things up a bit but Chelsea did not flinch. In the 78th minute, with their first corner of the game, David Luiz scored Chelsea’s second with a looping header to make the points safe.
Sarri
In the build up to the game, Maurizio Sarri had come under immense pressure having lost 2 of his last 3 games with an awful performance against Spurs a fortnight ago. Questions were being asked as to whether the famous ‘Sarriball’ system was the way to go. In probably the biggest test he could ever face as a Chelsea manager, he aced it with some distinction. He took a page out of his tactical book and stunned the champions with a masterclass. People might still question some of his decisions but for a man who claimed to ‘not know how he was going to beat City’, his team didn’t perform badly at all.
Dogboe learns the hard way
There were genuine fears ahead of the fight and many worried about Dogboe and whether he would be able to once again defend his WBO Bantamweight title. On Sunday morning, Ghana’s solitary world champion, Isaac Dogboe lost his WBO Bantamweight title bout by a unanimous decision to Mexican Emmanuel Naverrete. The “Royal Storm” was out boxed and outsmarted throughout the bout and at times looked really out of his depth. In an interview after the bout, he admitted to not have the best preparation and training camps ahead of the fight. He also admitted to underestimating his opponent, a big mistake, as it turned out to be. In all this, the lessons are clear for the young boxer to learn. He had no respect for his opponent and was shocked on Sunday. He had no answers to the prying questions Naverrete asked and couldn’t stop his strong jabs. If he ever needed a wake up call or an eye opener, it doesn’t come bigger than this. Dogboe was beaten and down, but a true champion’s character is tested by how he recovers from situations like these and it is left to be seen of how Dogboe gets back up.
Mohammed Salah
Mohammed Salah bagged a hattrick against Bournemouth in the early kick off on Saturday. Salah is now joint top scorer in 10 goals in the league. The PFA player once again proved his importance to this Liverpool set up. He has scored the opening goal in 7 of Liverpool’s games this season, the most in the league. His third goal yesterday was one the greats of the game would be proud of as he showed composure to beat the goalkeeper twice before slotting home. As the season enters the all decisive festive period, his form is going to be very crucial to Liverpool’s title challenge.
Dortmund edge Schalke in Review derby.
Jadon Sancho scored with a cool finish in the 74th minute to see Dortmund win the derby. The youngster scored his 5th of the season and was once again the hero for BVB as they extend their unbeaten run in the league to 14 games. Thomas Delaney gave the league leaders the lead in the 7th minute before Daniel Caliguri’s penalty levelled it for the hosts. Jadon Sancho’s winner came in the 74th minute as he slotted home with the cooly past the goalkeeper. It’s been a dream start to the season for the young English time as he continues to impress in the Bundesliga. Dortmund lead their bitter rivals Bayern by 9 points and are in a good position to end the latter’s 6-year dominance of the Bundesliga.
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