Manchester Metropolis climbed into the top-four of the Premier League desk with an entertaining 3-1 win over Chelsea on the Etihad Stadium.
The defending champions confronted Enzo Maresca’s facet in an exhilarating encounter, because the guests opened the scoring by way of Noni Madueke inside three minutes earlier than Josko Gvardiol pulled one again for the hosts earlier than the break.
Metropolis took the lead by way of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden rounded off the night with a 3rd aim to seal the three factors for Pep Guardiola’s workforce. The sport additionally marked full debuts for Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush, who made headlines however for various causes.
The sport kicked off on an intense be aware, with Chelsea instantly discovering a aim after Khusanov’s error. The Uzbek defender’s terribly miscalculated back-pass noticed Nicolas Jackson pounce on the chance, squaring it to Madueke. The latter discovered a transparent opening and drove the ball into the web to offer the guests an early benefit.
Metropolis slowly gained composure and managed to fend off assaults whereas these in Sky Blue discovered their footing. The hosts quickly constructed a sequence of counter-attacks, with Josko Gvardiol driving the offence from the left, dictating play alongside the flank and making unbelievable runs ahead, however as a collective took appreciable time to register their first shot on the right track.
The Croatian missed his first shot at aim however beat the goalkeeper together with his second, this time with a slight contact of luck. Matheus Nunes, efficient with assaults on the appropriate, discovered his well past Marc Cucurella however noticed his shot saved by Robert Sanchez. Nonetheless, the ball deflected in direction of Gvardiol, who fired it previous the Chelsea goalkeeper to deliver his facet degree.
Metropolis’s 3-5-2 formation noticed Omar Marmoush and Erling Haaland repeatedly exploit area behind the Chelsea line of defense, with Gvardiol and Nunes orchestrating assaults on both facet.
However the Sky Blues scored their second by way of an extended ball from Ederson that reached Haaland, and he comfortably beat Trevoh Chalobah to win the ball. He spun across the Chelsea defender, moved the ball to his left foot, and curled it over a wandering Sanchez.
A couple of minutes later, Haaland as soon as once more beat Chalobah to gather the ball and flick it in direction of Phil Foden. The midfielder raced into the opponent’s field and beat the goalkeeper to attain the third aim, sealing a much-needed win over the house facet.
Manchester Metropolis has now discovered their manner again into the top-four, beating Newcastle United in aim distinction and three factors behind Nottingham Forest. The Guardiola-led facet will return to motion midweek for a must-win Champions League displaying towards Membership Brugge.
However earlier than that, let’s have a look at the 5 Issues We Realized from Manchester Metropolis’s convincing 3-1 comeback win over Chelsea within the Premier League!
Abdukodir Khusanov within the first 5 minutes and past
Khusanov wish to neglect the sport’s opening minutes, scuffing a header in direction of Ederson and forcing the Manchester Metropolis goalkeeper out of place and permitting Nicolas Jackson to pinch the ball away.
Squaring it in direction of Noni Madueke, who fired it residence to deal an early blow to the hosts, moments later, the brand new signing handed the ball straight to Cole Palmer and was booked for bringing down the England Worldwide – all throughout the first 5 minutes of the sport.
However was Khusanov’s efficiency certainly as ‘disastrous’ as headlines are making it out to be?
It was undoubtedly the form of mistake that will be closely criticised on the highest ranges, however it was a younger participant’s first sport with a brand new workforce after only one coaching session, and his opponent is without doubt one of the six huge groups within the Premier League. He could be excused for nervous errors, particularly when Metropolis have seen comparable errors straight resulting in targets various occasions over previous months.
Amid all of the motion, Khusanov notably regained composure. Bernardo Silva’s strategic positioning – dropping deep to information runs – bolstered his confidence towards the relentless Chelsea forwards.
Pep Guardiola might be happy to see his defender refusing to let his early mistake overshadow the remainder of his sport, due to this fact stopping himself from changing into the goal. These in attendance on the Etihad Stadium applauded the centre-back when he got here off the sector, echoing the sentiment of his teammates and their supervisor.
Omar Marmoush will get a dream debut
One other Metropolis participant made his debut for the champions towards Chelsea and it was electrical.
Omar Marmoush ran the present, simply tearing aside the customer’s defence in a dream debut for the Egyptian ahead, who discovered the again of the web just for his aim to be dominated out for offside.
Though Marmoush performed in-behind Erling Haaland, he typically overtook the Norwegian when Metropolis have been on the assault. His tempo and creativity helped string collectively quick-fire assaults to construct strain on the guests.
However most significantly, he did a wonderful job drawing out defenders who would in any other case solely mark Haaland. This allowed Manchester Metropolis’s set-up more room to use throughout offensive performs as an alternative of solely counting on build-ups from both flank.
The 25-year-old’s versatility and skill to play a number of positions might be a game-changer for the facet. With Metropolis’s current struggles upfront, Guardiola would transfer him round to search out his simplest place within the workforce. He confirmed glimpses of a promising partnership with Haaland and would maybe thrive when taking part in proper behind the Metropolis striker.
The Boyhood Blues shine on the Etihad Stadium
Whereas debutants had their moments within the highlight, the partnership of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden had the Manchester Metropolis trustworthy over the moon all through Saturday night’s contest.
Haaland capitalised on Ederson’s lengthy ball and earned Metropolis the lead earlier than helping Phil Foden, who scored the third. The 2 celebrated collectively, showing nearer than ever to hitting stride after their respective struggles in entrance of the aim.
Haaland scoring from Ederon’s help was hardly a fluke. The Norwegian efficiently acquired the ball twice beforem however rolled it within the path of his teammates to no avail. In the end, he took it upon himself the third time and craftily dinked it over the Chelsea goalkeeper, who had left his aim broad open.
His fast go to Foden earlier than the latter raced in direction of the aim and beat Robert Sanchez in a one-vs-one boasted comparable composure from each gamers. It was a promising search for Manchester Metropolis’s assault after the Champions League displaying towards PSG final week.
Josko Gvardiol shares an necessary reminder
Though there have been a whole lot of positives to take from Metropolis’s win over Chelsea, Josko Gvardiol’s attacking prowess deserves a point out of its personal, and the Croatian discovered himself dealing with a myriad of criticisms for his defensive errors.
Gvardiol had began prioritising duties on the again, confirmed large enchancment, and just lately made a goal-line clearance. However towards Chelsea, the 23-year-old made a daring argument in favour of being probably the greatest attacking choices in Pep Guardiola’s facet.
The guests tried and did not comprise the Croatian, who ran riot with the ball at his toes. He made decisive runs by way of midfield and examined Sanchez a number of occasions earlier than ultimately discovering the web. He was daring together with his touches contained in the Chelsea field and drove the sport ahead with out compromising on the backline in certainly one of his most spectacular performances.
There are occasions when the opposing facet discover alternatives to mess around Gvardiol, however he’s making it more and more tough for his man to search out him out of place. Regardless of a couple of forgetful moments, his fellow defenders did effectively to carry the road whereas Gvardiol strutted into midfield. His rising confidence may work wonders for Metropolis of their upcoming fixtures towards top-placed groups.
Did Pep Guardiola lastly discover a solution for his ageing midfield?
It has been a minute since a Metropolis facet appeared as balanced as they did towards Chelsea. And it partly comes right down to the midfield with Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, and Bernardo Silva.
In earlier video games, Pep Guardiola had tried totally different variations of their link-ups, however every would falter for one cause or one other. However this time, the three managed to work collectively and strike a steadiness between ball development whereas sharing duties in holding midfield, primarily upholding the possession for the workforce, which is a vital aspect of their techniques.
In contrast to the final outing, Kovacic kept away from taking part in his manner out of bother. As an alternative, he rapidly moved the ball ahead when he discovered area, throughout which Gundogan dropped deep. They typically interchanged roles, with Gundogan creating area for Gvardiol to cost ahead. Bernardo Silva helped each as required however prioritised overlaying Khusanov’s runs.
We now have beforehand seen a paring of Silva-Gundogan fail to facilitate offense, Gundogan-Kovacic to carry the midfield, and Kovacic-Silva to construct strain from the center.
Nonetheless, the three did higher when working collectively, which is essential when Kevin De Bruyne’s absence from midfield is factored in. Except it was a one-off prevalence, it may give Metropolis a sensible choice to cowl the CDM position in the event that they don’t signal a participant for the place earlier than the January switch window ends.