Kevin De Bruyne did not have a good time at Bridge. Relegated by Jos Mourinho to a secondary role and to go on loan to Genk and Werder Bremen, he barely played nine games (0 goals and 1 assist) in the half year he lived in blue. He had to leave London to go to Wolfsburg where he became “big” before landing at Premier League – Manchester City's turnover for the first time higher than Manchester United's”>Manchester City. And since he’s been at the Etihad, converted into a ‘celestial’ star and legend, Chelsea is his favorite victim.
Five goals has been scored by KDB to his exes. It is an ordeal for the London team due to its physique, quality… and effectiveness. At the Etihad, in a close clash like the last City-Chelsea, De Bruyne found his way to victory and the Premier League. He caught the ball in the middle, left Kant on the ground with his power in his run and faced the defense, who did not anticipate his shot into the net from outside the area. A measured, tight and long shot that Kepa could not stop. A classic of Messi and the Belgian. A stellar play by De Bruyne that gave City a win (1-0) with which they took the ‘blues’ out of the way.
They lead by 13 points! to Chelsea, second, and in 14 to Liverpool, which has two games less. The ‘cityzens’ have imposed a rhythm that no one can follow. They chain 12 consecutive victories in the Premier for the fourth time in the ‘Guardiola era’. Too much for anyone. And that, as always, they had to sweat the victory against the Londoners.
The City-Chelsea have been games with short results since Tuchel arrived at the Bridge a year ago. His duels with Pep Guardiola are competitive to infinity, but they do not have the goalscoring frenzy of other Premier League games. The script is always the same: the ‘blues’ hope and aspire to hit the counter and the ‘cityzens’ monopolize the ball in search of a crack.
In the first three Pep-TTs, City did not bring down the blue wall and the Champions ended up resting in Chelsea’s trophy room. But in this Premier, the ‘sky blues’ have found the path to victory twice. Bad news for Chelsea. Guardiola has already got the hang of the German.
Kepa and Ederson, keys
The meeting was as competitive as it was lacking in chances. City was the one that proposed the most, playing fast, pressing and taking the ball from their rival. However, each team had a great choice on the part. In the first, in a mistake by Kovacic, Grealish had a one-on-one that Kepa took out with his leg ‘like Casillas against Robben’. And in the second, Lukaku stayed in front of Ederson and the Brazilian cleared his shot.
City played and did not let Chelsea move, waiting for an error from their rival. That ruling did not come but the local goal did. De Bruyne took the ball and invented a target worth half a Premier. He has already scored 21 goals! from outside the box since he’s been at the Etihad. He is the king of long distance. Tuchel, without his clean sheets (one in the last 10 days), has seen how the option of fighting for the title escapes him because of his holes behind. And Guardiola, who did not count on Dias, has designed a seamless set. A champion team. Let’s see what Liverpool does…
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