Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Mourinho's Men March On

In what was dubbed by many as 'El Cashico', Premier League giants Manchester City and Chelsea locked horns at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Demichelis was handed his Premier League debut for City in the absence of club captain Vincent Kompany and had a hard day's work, trying to keep Fernando Torres quiet.

Torres had a fantastic game, working hard, chasing down every ball that came his way and playing some excellent football. It didn't start off in that manner however, after controlling a lofted pass and with only Joe Hart standing between him and the opening goal, the Chelsea striker sent his rushed volley arrowing over the bar.

Normally his head would have dropped at that point and he would have lost concentration, but not this time. With half an hour on the clock, the Spaniard made a powerful run down the right side of the field, breezing past Clichy before handing it to Andre Schurrle on a plate who bagged his first goal for the blues from very close range. Shortly after the goal Torres showed another flash of his brilliance from his time at Liverpool, unleashing a ferocious shot that beat Joe Hart but ricocheted off the corner of the goal where the post meets the crossbar.

It stayed 1-0 until half time when the two sides left the pitch to face very different team talks. Manuel Pellegrini will have been demanding a lot more from his side. Despite making most of the running in the first half, they lacked the cutting edge to make it count.

His words had an almost instant affect. Just four minutes into the second period and the away side were level. Sergio Aguero beat the Chelsea offside trap and ran through one on one with Petr Cech, firing an unstoppable shot into the top corner that left the Home keeper frozen to the spot. It was Aguero's fifth goal in three games.

The second half was much more open than the first, the two teams taking turns to press down the field and attempt to create the winning goal, before inevitably surrendering possession to the opposition.

It was Chelsea who found the break through, late on in the ninety regulation minutes. Willian fired a long, hopeful ball down the field and caused a major mix up when both Joe Hart and Nastasic went to deal with it. Nastasic ended up lobbing the ball over his own keeper and sending Torres through on goal, who duly slotted home the winning goal from a tight angle.

The goal sent the whole crowd into raptures, with Jose Mourinho jumping into the stands to celebrate alongside the shocked Chelsea supporters. The result moves Chelsea back up into second above Liverpool only on goal difference, but leaves Manchester City in the surprisingly low position of seventh, below Southampton.  

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