Chelsea beat Man City twice in 3 weeks — ahead of UCL final

May 8, 2021 8:12 pm

Chelsea beat Man City twice in 3 weeks -- ahead of UCL final

Chelsea came from behind to beat Manchester City in their English Premier League (EPL) encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.

A second-half strike from Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso’s last-minute winner cancelled Raheem Sterling’s opener and handed Man City consecutive defeats at home. It also halts their inevitable title celebrations for another week.

The win was the second for the Thomas Tuchel-inspired side against the Pep Guardiola team in the space of three weeks — after the Blues victory over City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on April 17, 2021.

Both sides made wholesome changes to their starting line-ups from their midweek UEFA champions league victories and this was evident at the start of the game.

City took the lead on 44 minutes when Gabriel Jesus pounced on an Andreas Christensen error to square for Aguero but Sterling stole in to finish clinically into an unguarded net.

Aguero, the departing City striker, had a chance to score from the penalty spot but his effort was saved by Edouard Mendy, Chelsea goalkeeper.

The Blues improved in the second period and went close through Hakim Ziyech but his shot was easily saved, while Christian Pulisic hit another shot off target.

Ziyech duly equalised for Chelsea on 63 minutes with his first league goal since October. The Moroccan international collected Cesar Azpilicueta’s cutback before sneaking his shot in at the near post for 1-1.

Tuchel’s side won the encounter on the 92nd minute through Alonso’s scuffed effort into the top corner following a cutback from Werner.

Chelsea leapfrog Leicester City into the third position with 64 points from 35 matches while Man City, 13 points clear of Manchester United in second place, still seek three points from their last three matches to win the league title.

The result also comes as a boost to Chelsea who take on Man City at this year’s Champions League final scheduled for May 29, at Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.

RESULTS