Manchester: In a haze of blue smoke produced by fans, Manchester City’s team coaches were greeted with a song of ‘Champions’ in their stadium. They were premature. There was another match – which was closed to the crowd due to the pandemic – to win.
And Chelsea came from behind to win 2-1 on Saturday, preventing City from clinching a third English title in four seasons and dethroning Liverpool.
City’s time will surely come, with three games to go over the line in the Premier League. The celebrations could even take place on Sunday if Manchester United, 13 points from their neighbor, lose at Aston Villa.
The loss to Chelsea has been a nuisance for City manager Pep Guardiola after seeing the four-time bid end three times, ending in a semi-final in the FA Cup. Now it’s only three weeks until they meet again at the biggest soccer tournament – the Champions League final.
“We can learn from this and move on,” Guardiola said.
“We still have three chances to be champions.”
How different it could have been if Sergio Aguero had not gently cut a “Panenka” penalty in the middle, which saved Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy in the first half at half-time after Gabriel Jesus was brought down by Billy Gilmour . It was a chance to double the lead after Raheem Sterling swept the home screen in the 44th minute.
Andreas Christensen was unable to close a long ball and fell, and Gabriel Jesus squeezed in to take possession. The pass was across the penalty area, which Aguero could not control to shoot until Sterling applied the final round.
Then it was a mistake by Rodri, who played as the only midfielder, to give the ball away around the halfway line which led to Chelsea being tied in the 63rd.
Cesar Azpilicueta broke off his left hand before passing to Hakim Ziyech and hitting the ball to Christian Pulisic, who held off defender Nathan Ake. Azpilicueta found the space to receive the ball back before squaring it for Ziyech to hit low into the net.
Chelsea looked like they were giving away another penalty with two minutes left of normal time when Sterling looked cut by Kurt Zouma and they fell into a mess. Despite cries of protests and an appeal to the referee to look into the incident himself, no spot was awarded.
How expensive it has proved for City. During the break, Timo Werner cut the ball back for Marcos Alonso to secure the win and the victory that moved Chelsea to third place.
Source: Telangana Today