Chelsea v Man City: Premier League match preview
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Chelsea inflicted Manchester City ‘s first defeat of the season in a compelling contest at Stamford Bridge.
Strikers were conspicuous by their absence, with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and City’s Raheem Sterling deployed in the ‘false nine’ position, and the hosts absorbed repeated pressure from Pep Guardiola ‘s men before earning a 2-0 win.
Infrequent goalscorer N’Golo Kante gave Chelsea the lead on the stroke of half-time, completing a devastating counter-attack by scoring with the Blues’ first shot of the game, and David Luiz headed in a second 12 minutes from time.
Show all 23 1 /23Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Thibaut Courtois - 4 Horrendous mistake for the first goal, completely mistiming his punch. Was solid in every other part of his game but matches of this magnitude are often won and lost on the small details.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Branislav Ivanovic - 6 Terrible first half performance that included three terrible errors that, fortunately for Chelsea, went unpunished. Made up for that with a brilliant pass to find Hazard for the goal and was much better after half-time.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings John Terry - 7 Made one bad error when he got underneath a long ball to allow Aguero through on goal but again proved he is the best English defender out there.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Kurt Zouma - 8 Still has huge room for improvement but the 20-year-old has all the tools to become one of the very best in the world. Deserves to be keeping England's first-choice centre-back on the sidelines.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Cesar Azpilicueta - 5 Jesus Navas had the better of his compatriot all evening. Azpilicueta was beaten in a way Chelsea fans have not often seen.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Nemanja Matic - 8 Stepped up his game in the absence of Fabregas to put in a complete midfield performance. Truly great on and off the ball, the giant Serbian was the best player on the park.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Ramires - 7 Held his position well as the holding midfielder and only made the occasional burst forward, Ramires was very good but its hard to argue that the Blues missed the wizardry of Cesc Fabregas.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Willian - 5 Hassled and harried his way through the 90 minutes, Willian was excellent in the defensive and middle thirds of the field but produced little to nothing in areas where he could do damage. Set-pieces delivery was also poor.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Oscar - 6 Another who failed to produce in the final third, Oscar played deeper than he has done for the most part this season which blunted his effectiveness
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Eden Hazard - 6 Brilliant in the first 45, causing all sorts of problems for Bacary Sagna but was extremely quiet after the break as City closed off the space around the dangerous Belgian.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Loic Remy - 7 Was brilliant in the lone striker role, holding the ball up well to bring his team-mates into the game. Great movement to find space for the goal, it was a shame for Chelsea that the trio behind him starved the striker of service.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Joe Hart - 6 Nothing he could do about the goal and was hardly tested otherwise by the home side. Looked reasonably solid throughout, bar one dodgy kick.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Bacary Sagna - 6 Struggled in the first half against Hazard but grew into it as it went on, to snuff out the Hazard threat. Combined excellently with Jesus Navas. Lost Hazard for the goal.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Vincent Kompany - 7 Defender manfully, though he wasn't always the most comfrotable in possession. In truth, Chelsea didn't offer much threat.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Martin Demichelis - 7 Had an excellent match but went to sleep to allow Loic Remy to steal into yards of space for the goal.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Gael Clichy - 8 Didn't put a foot wrong on the left and never gave Willian the chance to do anything of note in the final third. Offered a good outlet going forward as well.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Fernandinho - 7 Was one of the best City performers with a display full of energy and purpose. Pushed the visitors forward, passed well and was not averse to stopping Chelsea by any means necessary.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Fernando - 7 Gave Matic as good as he got in midfield and provided the City defence with superb cover throughout the game.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Jesus Navas - 7 Gave Cesar Azpilicueta the hardest game he's played all season but for all the occasions he beat his opposite number he failed to deliver that telling ball.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings James Milner - 7 Barely troubled Ivanovic as an attacking force but you can't downplay his importance to the City cause as a worker and defender.
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Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings David Silva - 7 Was not able to offer his usual craft when in possession as he was well marshalled by Matic and Ramires, but got an absolutely vital touch to turn Aguero's shot past Ivanovic.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Sergio Aguero - 5 Five games since returning from injury and the usually lethal striker is misfiring. Latched on to a Terry mistake to race through on goal for a chance that a pre-injury Aguero would have tucked away - he fired wide.
Chelsea vs Manchester City player ratings Frank Lampard - 5 The stage looked set for another Lampard goal against his former club but it was not to be. Given a great ovation at the end from his former supporters.
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City had been unbeaten in 21 games, since April’s defeat in the Manchester derby, and now sit a point behind Liverpool. Chelsea are third, eight points behind Liverpool. Re-live the action below:
Show latest update 1544263304 ↵Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's headline Premier League encounter between Chelsea and leaders Manchester City , brought to you from Stamford Bridge.
With the match due to kick-off at 5:30pm, there's plenty of time to follow the latest news ahead of the teams being released at 4:30pm, where will begin our full build-up towards the match.
But until then, take a read of Jack Pitt-Brooke's big match preview here:
Jack de Menezes 8 December 2018 10:01
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Jack de Menezes 8 December 2018 14:19
1544286663 TEAM NEWS: CHELSEA VS MANCHESTER CITY
Jack de Menezes 8 December 2018 16:31
1544288572 What do we make of those two starting lineups then?
No centre-forwards in sight. Matching 4-3-3's with a false nine? This should be fun...
Harry Latham-Coyle 8 December 2018 17:02
1544289057 Contrasting midweek fortunes for these two. Manchester City continued their unbeaten season with an away win at Vicarage Road, but for Chelsea the 2-1 defeat to Wolves was particularly disappointing as they slip out of the title race.
Harry Latham-Coyle 8 December 2018 17:10
1544289292 Liverpool's win at Bournemouth earlier took them top, though Manchester City would reclaim that spot with even a draw.
Chelsea are, realistically, now jostling for position in the top four with Arsenal and Tottenham. It is a huge game, and interesting that both managers have opted to twist rather than stick with novel frontlines.
Harry Latham-Coyle 8 December 2018 17:14
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