The EPL matches the weekend were really intense or let's say tough. Starting from the heavy defeat of Leicester City yesterday and then having Leeds knocking Tottenham so hard today, it's all just so shocking but matches with the bigger expectations came through also with some sorts of crucial stands.
Observing the match between Manchester City and Chelsea at Etihad tonight, firstly, I would say it's a good to have watched to two managers (Tuchel and Pep) play some hide and seek cards.
The two managers decided to shock or confuse each other in order not to be able to discern what both teams would look life for the UCL final. City's formation and player combinations was quite usual and Chelsea's lineup was a great and unexpected mixture but whichever way the match went down, and for me, it went down just the way I predicted it. It wasn't that hard to tell that Chelsea can't lose the match considering the fact that they weren't so sure of the qualification for next season's UCL. On the other hand, for Manchester City, it would have have just been a night to lift the trophy at Etihad if only they had won but somehow anyhow, they still own the trophy but for Chelsea they just had to win the match.
There was so much ups and downs in the match as City dominated so much in the first half, at first, I thought it was going to be a blood bath for Chelsea but it came all wrong as City couldn't feed well on the opportunities they had.
Sterling having the first half goal for City and his first goal in a while made the game more open for City and also kept Chelsea under under a little wind of pressure. It could of would have been a nightmare for Chelsea if only Aguero didn't get to joke with the penalty City had in the last minutes of the first half but like people
say - *shit happens!
City won the first half but Chelsea came back so strong. Timo Werner had two offside goals to himself today, and I just kept asking myself why managers tend to play him as a No. 9 knowing fully well he's a runner who could and would always do better on the flank. Aside having him as a runner, he doesn't have that physique and the ability to win aerial balls.
Recently, Chelsea had been playing with so many physical strength and I feel any team that would love to knock them down would have to first choke Kante up as he's currently their statue of creativity. Seeing /Watching him against Real Madrid in the UCL made me understand how much accolades he deserves and how important he really is. I personally believe Chelsea could easily lose in the UCL final if only City would successfully locked Kante down in the midfield.
Ziyech had the equalizing goal for Chelsea in the 63rd minutes and that was nothing but an eye opener for Chelsea, then they began to understand the need for them to attack more instead of defending for they needed a win in the match than City can ever imagine.
Ziyech's equalizer brought about more creativity from Chelsea's flank whereby Reece James began to deliver more threatening crosses and at that point, as a viewer, I was expecting to see Giroud all of a sudden as Chelsea badly needed a player upfront who's quite good with aerial ball and that was definitely not and can never be Timo Werner.
After watching Chelsea dominate the match in the second half, Marcos Alonso finally got Chelsea the winning goal which saw Chelsea to third on the EPL table ahead of Leicester City with just a point. It's not a battle won yet and at the same time, it's not a battle lost yet, Chelsea can still qualify for next season's UCL on a platter of gold by lifting the UCL trophy this season but whichever way it goes, I strongly believe Chelsea would make the EPL top 4 at the end of the League.
If there'll be any drama in the European football space this season again, I guess it would be more and much in the UCL final match between Chelsea and Manchester in Istanbul. Seeing what the two managers decided to play in the EPL today, it would even be a tough thing to predict the starting lineups for the UCL final but I am personally sure the better team would win the trophy.
who or which is the better team at the moment?
A Question I would love football fans all over the world to answer without sentiments.
All pictures are screenshots I took while live streaming the match.
