Manchester City vs Chelsea final score: This clash was decided by a moment of magic by Kevin de Bruyne, as Pep Guardiola’s side extend their lead atop the Premier League table.
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City looked more dangerous throughout and De Bruyne won it in the second half as the reigning Premier League champions are now 13 points clear at the top.
Chelsea never really got going in a game they had to win, as City have now won 12 games in a row and are surging towards back-to-back titles.
Liverpool can cut the gap at the top to eight points if they win their games in hand, but all signs points towards another title parade at the Etihad Stadium in May.
Manchester City vs Chelsea reaction, analysis, videos – By Joe Prince-Wright
A big day for City in their title bid, as Chelsea didn’t show up at all. Thanks for joining us!
Thomas Tuchel asked about Romelu Lukaku not getting service up top: “Some times he needs to do the service. He had many ball losses without any pressure. He had a big chance. Of course we want to serve him but the performance up front, especially in the first half, we have to do much better.”
Kevin de Bruyne admits this win today basically ends Chelsea’s title hopes, but is still wary of Liverpool in the title battle.
FULL TIME: Manchester City are 13 points clear at the top with 16 games to go. Liverpool have two games in-hand on City, so can close that gap to eight points, but Chelsea’s title hopes are now well and truly over.
Phil Foden blazes a shot over. Chelsea taking chances now and leaving gaps for City to exploit.
GOAL! Kevin de Bruyne doing Kevin de Bruyne things. Lovely curled effort into the far corner. Man City lead 1-0!
STUNNING GOAL BY KEVIN DE BRUYNE!
Manchester City lead 1-0.
💻: @peacockTV #MyPLMorning #MCICHE pic.twitter.com/6eq4rg4mxw— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 15, 2022
Werner and Hudson-Odoi on for Pulisic and Ziyech. The latter two struggled to have any impact on the game.
WIDE! Raheem Sterling fires a shot wide of the far post.
Kepa pushes Kevin de Bruyne’s free kick over. That’s about it. Chelsea can’t get out of their own half.
CHANCES! First a ball across the box just misses Sterling at the back post, as penalty calls are waved away. Then Kovacic plays in Lukaku on the break but his shot is well-saved by Ederson. Bright start to the second half.
HALF TIME: 0-0. Tight. Tense. Chelsea have hung in there but that is the first time under Tuchel that they’ve failed to have a single shot in the first half of a game. Ouch.
SAVE! Kepa with a fine save. Jack Grealish latches on to a loose ball after Kevin de Bruyne deflected Kovacic’s pass, but Grealish’s effort is deflected wide by Kepa who rushed off his line. Big chance for Grealish to put City ahead, as he looks to the sky in disbelief.
Kepa with the huge save on the Grealish shot to keep the match level!
💻: @peacockTV #MyPLMorning #MCICHE pic.twitter.com/FVmHIgOs9B
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 15, 2022
A wonderful run and cross by Phil Foden, but nobody was in the box to finish it off. Cue endless Tweets about Man City needing a new number nine…
Our own Robbie Mustoe sums up the Chelsea attacking issues perfectly.
Chelsea awful when (doesn’t happen very often) they got a chance to attack/hurt Man City. Lukaku correctly wants it in behind but hasn’t held it up well. Others picked wrong pass. #MNCCHE
— Robbie Mustoe (@robbiemustoe) January 15, 2022
City starting to take control of the game now. However, Lukaku made a great run on the break but Hakim Ziyech’s ball was overhit. Perfectly poised midway through the first half.
CHANCE! Good play by Romelu Lukaku as he bullies John Stones to win the ball, surges towards goal and tries to play in Ziyech instead of shooting. Ball was overhit and Ziyech was offside. Lukaku should have hit that.
Lukaku with the great run, but the pass to Ziyech misses the mark.
💻: @peacockTV #MyPLMorning #MCICHE pic.twitter.com/U6XHuSKlyM
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 15, 2022
This is starting to heat up now. Marcos Alonso booked for fouling Raheem Sterling. The Chelsea fans are teasing City’s fans with chants of “Champions of Europe, we know what we are!” The English champs won’t want to be reminded about that Champions League final in Porto last summer…
First big chance as a ball over the top sees Kepa fly out, miscue a clearance which hits Azpilicueta and goes out for a Man City corner.
KICK OFF: We are underway at the Etihad Stadium! This is the biggest game of the season so far. At the end of this match we will know whether or not we have a title race for the second half of the season…
Hello! What a game we have in store today! City sit at the top of the table, 10 points above second-place Chelsea and a win today would all but end the title hopes for the west London club.
The team news is very interesting with USMNT’s Christian Pulisic starting ahead of Werner and Mount for Chelsea, while Man City have left out star center back Ruben Dias who is on the bench as John Stones comes in.
Manchester City vs Chelsea preview
Pep Guardiola’s boys are on fire right now and have won 11 games on the spin in the Premier League, moving them 10 points clear atop the table. Chelsea sit in second and this is a huge opportunity for City to deal Chelsea’s title hopes a hammer blow, while also making it very tough for third-place Liverpool too. Guardiola rotated his side expertly over the festive period and injuries have been fairly kind to City. Defensively they continue to excel and they have so many options in attacking midfield that everyone has stopped talking about them signing a central striker. For now. City have struggled against Chelsea as they lost three times in a row to Thomas Tuchel’s side at the end of last season. However, they did beat them comfortably at Stamford Bridge earlier this season and will be the red-hot favorites heading into this game.
As for Chelsea, Tuchel will take confidence from the FA Cup, PL and UEFA Champions League final wins against City at the end of last season, but he knows this will be their toughest test left in the league. The Blues are in the League Cup final and their confidence, and defensive stability, is starting to return. The Romelu Lukaku situation is now sorted out and everyone has moved on, and this feels like a pivotal game in Chelsea’s season. Win and they could challenge for the title, like many (including yours truly) tipped them to do at the start of the campaign. Lose? Well, that is pretty much goodnight Vienna for their title dreams. What a game this should be as Chelsea’s defensive juggernaut tries to halt City’s slick attack in a real clash of styles.
Manchester City team news, lineups
John Stones replaces Ruben Dias in the starting lineup, while Phil Foden and Jack Grealish both start. Aside from Riyad Mahrez being away on AFCON duty, the rest of the starting lineup is as expected for City.
Your City XI to take on Chelsea! 💥
XI | Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Sterling, Foden, Grealish
SUBS | Steffen, Dias, Gundogan, Jesus, Fernandinho, Mbete, McAtee, Lavia, Wilson-Esbrand#ManCity | @HaysTechnology pic.twitter.com/LSGNkqolWj
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 15, 2022
Chelsea injury news, lineup options
The Blues have Ben Chilwell out for the season after his ACL injury and Reece James is set to miss plenty of time with a hamstring problem. That leaves Thomas Tuchel short at wing-back but Cesar Azpilicueta will line up on the right and Marcos Alonso on the left. Andreas Christensen is out after a positive COVID-19 test. The only other issues are Edouard Mendy being at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, so Kepa starts in goal, while Trevoh Chalobah is out with a hamstring issue so Malang Sarr starts at center back once again. USMNT star Christian Pulisic starts ahead of Mason Mount and Timo Werner in attack.
Ready for action! 👊@ParimatchGlobal | #MciChe pic.twitter.com/5JxFp7RHJ8
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 15, 2022