Chelsea analysis: Antonio Conte's defensive tactics
pay off vs Man City, but summer signings are a certainty
Chelsea recovered from their shock weekend defeat with Eden
Hazard's double securing a nervy 2-1 victory over Manchester
City that maintained a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier
League.
The Blues' home loss to Crystal
Palace on Saturday re-ignited the title race, but Chelsea responded with a
gritty display to keep second-placed Tottenham - 3-1 comeback winners at
Swansea City - safely at arm's length with eight games left.Hazard's deflected
shot gave the hosts a 10th-minute lead, although City keeper Willy Caballero
should have saved it.Sergio Aguero levelled with a tap-in after 26 minutes
following a poor clearance by keeper Thibaut Courtois, but Hazard restored
Chelsea's lead against the run of play in the 35th with a rebound after his
weak penalty was saved by Caballero.
Cesar Azpilicueta started the City game as
the right wing-back due to Victor Moses' injury, which kept him out for the
second successive league match.It meant Pedro starting in his usual place on
the right wing after he had to deputise in Moses' place against Palace.And the
move to play Azpilicueta in the first half in that role paid off with the
Spaniard linking up with Pedro to pull the ball back for Hazard, who went on to
score the opener in the 10th minute.Azpilicueta certainly has the qualities to
take on such a wing-back role as he has the pace to go forward and launch
attacks while using it to also track back and defend.But the difficulty Conte
has had this season when Moses hasn't been available is finding someone to
deputise ably in his absence, which could force him to look for a player who
can do just that in the summer.Kurt Zouma's return to the team on Wednesday -
he played on the right of the three-man defence - will be a boost after he put
in a good performance against City.
The Spain striker had the chance on
Wednesday to net his 50th Premier League goal for Chelsea.He is the Blues'
leading golscorer this season with 17 strikes but he had a quiet game against
City after he failed to convert the many chances he had against Palace at the
weekend.Interestingly, Costa has only scored three times in the league, and
four in all competitions, since receiving a mammoth offer from China in
January.He will undoubtedly be the first person to want to get out of this mini
rut, and Chelsea will need him to do so too as they head into the crucial last
period of their title charge.
Yet again, Chelsea failed to keep a
clean sheet in the league as Sergio Aguero breached the Blues' back line with
his tap-in in the 26th minute.The last time Chelsea managed to stop their
opponents finding the back of their net was in the 2-0 home win over Hull City
on 22 January.And Conte won't be happy about the fact that his side just can't
keep out the goals especially as his side were so solid at the back after first
switching to a 3-4-3 formation.There have been several reasons for why this is,
with Thibaut Courtois - making his 100th Chelsea appearance on Wednesday -
being to blame against City after sending an attempted clearance straight into
the path of David Silva who set up Aguero for the City equaliser.But what it
shows is that Conte needs more options in defence to take the load off the
likes of regular starters David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta, and he
is likely to look for those when the summer transfer window opens.
Chelsea v Manchester City
Premier League, Stamford Bridge.
Wednesday, April 5
Chelsea 2
1 Manchester City
Total shots
10
17
Shots on target
4
7
Possession %
39
61
Corners
2
9
Offsides
1
0
Fouls committed
10
14
Yellow cards
1
3
Red cards
0
0
A game of this magnitude, added to
the fact it was on a Wednesday night, was always going to produce a fiery
atmosphere.But it was made all the more fiery by what happened when these two
teams met at the Etihad Stadium four months ago.With Chelsea leading 3-1,
Aguero delivered a tackle on Luiz which has left him still requiring treatment
on his leg. The foul sparked a melee, which saw Fernandinho push Cesc Fabregas
over the advertising hoardings.Both Aguero and Fernandinho were subsequently
handed bans (four for the former and three for the latter), but it seemed on
Wednesday that the Chelsea fans had not forgotten about those incidents.Indeed,
Aguero was subjected to boos and chants of 'Cheat' at Stamford Bridge following
a foul by Marcos Alonso while the game was littered with tackles all over the
pitch.The nature of the clash was such that even Conte and Guardiola ended up
in a heated exchange on the touchline about whether they had seen a foul on the
pitch or not.Despite the fact that Tottenham are Chelsea's closest challengers
for the title at the moment, the rivalry between Chelsea and City has certainly
grown this season.
The Spaniard has gained the trust of
Antonio Conte as the season has progressed by reacting to being used largely as
a substitute in the early part of the season by working hard in training and
taking his chances when called upon.Indeed, it was in the reverse fixture at
the Etihad Stadium in December when Fabregas - who had been left on the bench
the previous three league games - set up Diego Costa's equaliser, which helped
Chelsea onto a 3-1 win.While mostly being used by Conte next to N'Golo Kante in
central midfield, against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Fabregas showed he can
make an impact in a different role, which in that game, was on the right wing.Despite
seeing Palace react to his goal by scoring twice, Conte put his faith back in
Fabregas by starting him against City but, this time, in place of Nemanja Matic
in central midfield before then shifting him back out on the right for the
second half.And Fabregas re-paid Conte by linking up well with his attacking
teammates and coming close to scoring in the first half too.His creative
instincts and the way he understands his colleagues such as Eden Hazard and
Diego Costa remains important reasons why Fabregas has a key part to play in
this title-chasing side.
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