Chelsea 0-Man City 3: Cityzens thump Blues to reignite title hopes

Chelsea 0-Man City 3: Cityzens thump Blues to reignite title hopes

Manchester City closed the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal with a dominant 3-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Goals from Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku were enough to seal all three points for the visitors after Arsenal lost at Bournemouth on Saturday. The win leaves City six points off the Gunners, who the Mancunians play next Sunday and have a game in hand over, and increases scrutiny on Blues manager Liam Rosenior after one win in seven games.

The last time the South London side beat City in front of fans was in December 2018, but in a barren first 45 it appeared like that run could come to an end.

As It Happened

Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro both fired into the side netting from tight angles, and Pedro Neto saw a close-range strike well saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Little by little, with Noel Gallagher in attendance, the Sky Blues warmed up as the half wore on, as Rayan Cherki had a tame effort saved and Robert Sanchez had to be alert to deny Erling Haaland a tap-in.

Antoine Semenyo almost put the Cityzens 1-0 up on the stroke of half time following a jinking run, only to see his fizzing low drive saved by Sanchez. After an encouraging final quarter City picked up where they left off in the second period, with Jarrell Hato forced to block a dangerous Erling Haaland opportunity before Rayan Cherki’s low ball across goal was put out for a corner.

A dreary affair finally burst into life on 51 minutes when O’Reilly powerfully headed home a delicious delivery from the right hand side. From there the Cityzens ran riot, with Guehi thumping in a low drive from 12 yards following a mazy Cherki run before Doku, who was so frustrating in the opening stages, slotted home a composed finish after bullying Caicedo off the ball to put the visitors three goals to the good.

Chelsea improved as the match progressed, and had big opportunities through Palmer and Marc Cucurella, but ot proved to be too little too late. Not everything was sunshine and roses for City, as O’Reilly went off with an apparent hamstring issue just after the hour mark.

Having won 28 of their last 31 top flight games in April, and with Arsenal appearing to stutter when it matters most, the Etihad faithful will feel more confident than ever they can regain their position at the top of the Premier League tree.