A resurgent Manchester City emphatically outclassed champions Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium, scoring three goals past the clueless Chelsea defence. Jose Mourinho’s chaotic week came to a humiliating end, as Manchester City extended his side’s winless run in the 2015/16 season.
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Asmir Begovic, who started in place of the suspended Thibaut Courtois, thwarted Sergio Aguero thrice in the first-half with some brilliant saves, but the Argentine got his goal at the half-hour mark, when he crated space for himself in the box, nonchalantly fooling Gary Cahill in the process, and slotted a left foot shot to open the scoring.
Chelsea lacked the intensity they had shown in last season’s title winning campaign and seemed to rely rather heavily on Hazard’s pace and skill, who unfortunately for the Blues, never got going on Sunday. A few minutes into the second-half, Ramires scored a neat goal but was adjudged offside. Vincent Kompany, took the tie beyond Chelsea’s reach when he headed his second goal in as many games, with a glancing header past Begovic. Fernandinho compounded Jose Mourinho’s misery, when he pounced on a poor Chelsea clearance and fired in a thunderous shot from the edge of the box, past the hapless Begovic.
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Although Jose Mourinho in typical fashion went on to call the result as ‘fake’, the truth is that City simply dominated in terms of class and creativity. John Terry, who had played every minute last season, was unceremoniously substituted by Kurt Zouma at half-time, incidentally for the first time under Jose Mourinho. Raheem Sterling constantly left Ivanovic for the dead, Yaya Toure and Fernandinho ruled proceedings in the middle of the park and Mangala and Kompany were sound in defence as Manchester City ruthlessly dismissed a lethargic and insipid Chelsea side, to move to the top of the table.
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Arsenal notched their first win of the season, winning 2-1 against a tricky Crystal Palace outfit. Olivier Giroud scored a mesmerizing scissor-kick to open the scoring but it wasn’t long before Joel Ward drew Palace level with a driven shot past Petr Cech. The Gunners regained their lead when Damian Delaney sliced Alexis Sanchez’s header into his net. Although the home side came close to equalizing again, Arsenal held on to win their first points of the season.
Leicester continued their brilliant start to the season with a 2-1 win at West Ham, while Tottenham squandered a two-goal lead against Stoke to win a single point. Swansea brushed 10-man Newcastle away at home, while Norwich humiliated Sunderland 3-1.
Tags: Chelsea EPL Manchester City
