Chelsea foil Man City’s early EPL title celebration
Raheem Sterling scored for City on the stroke of half-time before Hakim Ziyech levelled after the hour mark. Marcos Alonso scored the winning goal two minutes into added time.
“I think the second half was a fantastic response to the last five minutes of the first half where we almost lost it all. To me it was a clear 0-0 half but suddenly we did one decisive mistake and maybe the match becomes out of reach at half-time,” Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said after the game.
“With every minute we gained confidence and quality. We got better and better. It was a tough battle and once we got the equaliser we never stopped attacking. [The winning goal] was a huge reward.
“This tells us we can rely on our fitness which is a fantastic feeling at the end of a season. We can also rely on our team spirit, we keep going.”
Gabriel Jesus set up City’s goal on 44 minutes with a cross into the box that was meant for Sergio Aguero. However, a bad touch from him saw it fall at the feet of Sterling who smashed it into the net.
Aguero had the opportunity to make up for his mistake three minutes later when Billy Gilmour gave away a penalty for pulling down Jesus in the box.
However, he attempted a Panenka which Edouard Mendy was able to casually stand up and catch. The penalty miss is Aguero’s first in the Premier League at the Etihad since October 2016.
“It’s his decision. The taker makes his decision. He decided to take it his way, I’ve nothing to add,” said City boss Pep Guardiola after the match.
City were left rueing that missed chance on 63 minutes when Ziyech levelled the score.
Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta teamed up with some nice once-twos before the Chelsea captain passed out to Ziyech who hit a low shot past Ederson
Chelsea had the ball in the net twice more before the end of the half with Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi both having goals ruled out for offside in the final 15 minutes.
A goal was clearly coming for Thomas Tuchel’s side but they left it to the very final moments to end City’s dreams of winning the Premier League title with two matchdays remaining.
Werner cut the ball back for Alonso who fired it past Ederson and into the net on 92 minutes.
The goal came after a strong penalty shout agaisnt Sterling in the Chelsea area was denied and Guardiola said after the match it should have been a spot kick.
“It’s a penalty. That’s all,” Guardiola said. “It happens, it’s football. We will try next time to score our penalty. That”s all I can say. I saw on the TV it was a penalty.
“In 21 days we are going to face them again in the Champions League final. We will learn from that and get the points we need to be champions.”
City can win the title if Manchester United lose to Aston Villa on Sunday.
