Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City: Sergio Aguero hits hat-trick against 10-man Blues to send City third as Kevin De Bruyne shines again
- Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for Manchester City in the 33rd minute applying a superb finish to a swift counter
- Aguero doubled the advantage with another brilliant City goal on the break after great work by Kevin De Bruyne
- The Argentinian striker sealed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Thibaut Courtois had been sent off
Sat in his plush Stamford Bridge box, Roman Abramovich looked more interested in his mobile phone than Saturday's match. No wonder. Chelsea’s shocking season plumbed new depths as they were ripped apart by Manchester City.
You can’t blame Chelsea’s Russian owner for not watching as Sergio Aguero fired home a hat-trick to lift City above Arsenal into third place.
This fixture would usually have an impact on the title race. Instead, ahead of kick-off, it had a distinctly mid-table vibe.
Sergio Aguero completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Thibaut Courtois had been sent off for bringing down Fernandinho
Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois is shown the red card by referee Mike Dean after denying a clear goalscoring opportunity
Aguero grabbed his second goal of the game 10 minutes into the second half to give Manchester City a commanding lead
Aguero celebrates with Samir Nasri after the French midfielder played the perfect through ball to set up the Argentinian striker
Aguero lets fly from from 20 yards and picks out the bottom corner expertly to hand Manchester City a 1-0 lead in the first half
Aguero (second right) bends an effort past the outstretched leg of Chelsea defender Gary Cahill before the ball nestles in the corner
The Argentinian wheels away in celebration after scoring for the third Premier League game in a row in the 33rd minute
Aguero is mobbed by his Manchester City team-mates after handing the home side the advantage following a swift counter attack
City, of course, have bigger fish to fry. Their reward, if you can call it that, for dismantling Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night is a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.
Chelsea, though, are out of fish. They don’t even have a frying pan.
Guus Hiddink’s biggest fear is motivating his players. With nothing but pride riding on the rest of the season, the Chelsea dressing room is flat.
So too was Stamford Bridge at the start of this clash. The malaise that has engulfed the club has infiltrated the supporters. Chelsea tried their best to inject some much needed urgency into their season in the opening stages.
Nicolas Otamendi atoned for his initial error by clearing Pedro’s goalbound effort off the line before Thibaut Courtois — returning to the starting XI after being dropped last week — denied City’s midweek hero Kevin De Bruyne.
Diego Costa thought he had given Chelsea a ninth-minute lead after Baba Rahman dispossessed Jesus Navas, but the effort was disallowed for offside.
Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi gets back to clear a Chelsea effort off the line as the game started at great pace
Diego Costa gets the better of Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart as the pair battle for possession at Stamford Bridge
The Brazil-born Spain striker had the ball in the back of the net inside 10 minutes but his joy was short-lived after seeing the flag raised
Ruben Loftus-Cheek takes the ball under control but has City defender Otamendi for company as the Blues attack
Kevin De Bruyne, who has been in brilliant form since returning from injury, escapes the challenge of John Mikel Obi
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, starting in the No 10 role, then squandered another Chelsea opportunity, firing narrowly wide after more questionable defending by Otamendi.
If only Chelsea had shown this sort of quality earlier in the season then perhaps they wouldn’t be at the business end of the season without any business to complete. And their frailties soon found their way to the surface. It wasn’t as if they weren’t warned, either. Courtois denied De Bruyne again in the 23rd minute after Yaya Toure’s pass split Chelsea’s defence in two.
The Belgium goalkeeper was forced into action again four minutes later, stopping Samir Nasri’s effort after Aguero’s pass.
Courtois’ future at Stamford Bridge has been the subject of much scrutiny in recent weeks, his axing for last week’s defeat at Swansea only serving to fuel talk that he could be on his way.
In this form, however, Chelsea must do all they can to keep hold of their highly-rated goalkeeper, though not even Courtois could prevent City taking the lead in the 33rd minute. It was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it job. One second City were defending a corner, the next they were celebrating taking the lead. Toure’s defensive header eventually fell to De Bruyne who carried the ball more than half the length of the pitch, leaving Rahman in his wake.
Manchester City striker Aguero takes a tumble under a strong challenging from Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas
City midfielder De Bruyne capitalised on a great hole in the Chelsea defence but found Thibaut Courtois in the way
Nasri was played through on goal but Courtois rushed off his line to deny the French midfielder with another important stop
Belgian midfielder De Bruyne led a quick counter attack after Manchester City cleared a Chelsea corner before passing the ball to Aguero
Aguero shifted the ball on to his right foot before unleashing a powerfully struck effort to break the deadlock at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea half-expected City’s creator-in-chief to go it alone. Instead, he squared to Aguero who steadied himself before coolly slotting past Courtois. In short: pure quality. De Bruyne’s vision, Aguero’s finish. Breathtaking.
You have to wonder what Abramovich was thinking. De Bruyne, now a £54million star on his first return to Stamford Bridge since being allowed to leave in 2014, tore his expensively assembled team apart.
How could a footballer this talented have been allowed to leave? It’s a question Abramovich will surely be asking himself.
And how this Chelsea team could do with De Bruyne right now. Still, the Blues could have been on level at half-time had Willian not wasted a free-kick from a good position at the end of the first half.
Similarly, had Loftus-Cheek not mistimed his effort from just six yards out then Chelsea would have been celebrating.
Aguero heads towards Spanish team-mate Jesus Navas to celebrate his 24th goal of the season in all competitions
The Manchester City players congratulate Aguero after giving hi side the advantage after 32 minutes of the Premier League clash
Costa was a constant threat for Chelsea on the Spain striker's first appearance since he was sent off against Everton last month
Chelsea defender Cahill goes over the top of De Bruyne to win a header as the Blues looked for a way back into the game
Instead, they soon found themselves 2-0 down with De Bruyne, again, at the centre of it all.
Another searing run from the Belgian had started deep inside his own half and ended with a pass into Nasri, who slotted Aguero in. The finish was utterly ruthless and Chelsea, crowned champions under Jose Mourinho just 11 months ago, were being dismantled in their own backyard.
There was a slight blot on City’s afternoon in the 67th minute, when Pablo Zabaleta and manager Manuel Pellegrini shared cross words after the Argentine, who had been booked, was substituted. But that was nothing compared to Hiddink’s problems. The Dutchman saw Courtois sent off in the 78th minute for bringing down Fernandinho as the Brazilian ran through unchallenged.
Asmir Begovic was introduced in his place, but the keeper’s first job was to pick Aguero’s penalty from the back of the net. The sooner Chelsea see the back of this season the better.
Aguero was played through on goal 10 minutes into the second half and made no mistake as he fired across Courtois
The Manchester City players celebrate together after Aguero nets his second goal of the game to give the visitors a commanding lead
Courtois rushed off his line as Fernandinho broke clear of the Chelsea defendce but the Blues goalkeeper brought the midfielder down
Aguero, who missed a penalty against PSG midweek, stepped up and dispatched the spot kick to complete the rout
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WORST. CHAMPIONS. EVER.
by Orji 997