Chelsea’s win over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium over a year ago isn’t seen as a turning point in their season, but perhaps it should be considered at least a minor one.
The Blues lost to Arsenal in what was a seminal moment of their season, and a game which is rightly pointed out as the real turning point of last season. A run of three games without a win put Antonio Conte’s side under pressure, before his switch to a back three formation changed the course of Premier League history. But after beating Manchester United, Everton and Spurs in a run of seven victories in a row leading up to their trip to the Etihad at the start of December, Chelsea’s season was still very much in the balance.
Conte’s Blues were just one point ahead of Guardiola’s variety, as they met for an incredibly important top-ot-the table clash. A clinical Chelsea came away with the points in a game which ended with City reduced to nine men after a brawl ensued after a bad Sergio Aguero tackle on David Luiz in stoppage time.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Whereas Chelsea came away the victors and ended the day three points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table, their victory wasn’t clear cut. At half time, City led thanks to a Jesus Navas cross which was deflected past Thibaut Courtois by an unlucky Gary Cahill. Three second half goals won the game as Chelsea took their chances, but the entire game probably rested on a Kevin de Bruyne miss just minutes before Diego Costa’s equaliser.
Another Jesus Navas cross caused problems for the Chelsea defence as the Spaniard found De Bruyne in the box, and the Belgian contrived to miss an empty net from just yards away. It was a spectacular miss, all things considered. For such a great player to miss such a simple chance was one thing, but it was the kind of miss which summed up City’s season: they created enough chances to win almost every game, but an inability to convert was part of the problem, as was their weakness at the back.
Chelsea – like many others last season – capitalised. Just four minutes later, they were level, and after ten more minutes had passed, they were ahead, never to be caught. The game turned on that incident, and arguably could have turned in the first half when Sergio Aguero seemed to be brought down by Luiz as he was running through on goal. No foul was given, but City were incensed, expecting not only a free kick but a possible red card.
Both of those incidents could have changed the game. In the end, they may have changed the season.
Defeat for Conte’s side would have put them behind City in the table and would have killed their momentum at a crucial time. A famous run of 13 wins in a row is probably what won Chelsea the title. Victory over City was their eighth in that spell before defeat to Spurs in January threatened to give us a real title race. Losing to City would have put an end to that run early, perhaps killing off Chelsea’s momentum.
That’s not to say that the west London side weren’t the best team last season, nor is it to say that they definitely wouldn’t have won the league, but it could well have changed things.
Importantly, too, it could have changed things for City. Guardiola’s side would have ended the weekend top of the league, halted Chelsea’s momentum and grown in confidence. Instead, they slumped to a sad defeat the very next week away at Leicester City, and from potentially going top of the league had De Bruyne not missed, City found themselves seven points behind and falling just a week later.
Chelsea may well have won the league even with defeat against City. Guardiola’s side were beaten not through luck but through failings that systematically dogged them throughout the season as well as Chelsea’s ruthlessness, another trope of the year.
And so even if City had managed to pull off a victory that afternoon, they could certainly have thrown it all away later on. But it’s a seductive thought that, had De Bruyne scored and had City gone on to win the game, the title race could have been a much closer run thing at the very least.
In the end, Chelsea’s win is an underrated yet important part of their season. This year, City travel to Stamford Bridge in a similar position to where Chelsea were when they visited Manchester last season. They are top of the league having played brilliantly and looked wonderful, but just like Chelsea last December, they were still some big wins away from wholly convincing everyone that their form wasn’t just a temporary thing. Chelsea’s victory announced that they were ready to compete. We might end up looking back on a victory for either side this weekend in the same way.
