Chelsea’s young side have made huge strides under Frank Lampard this season, but having opened the scoring and dominated much of the first half against Manchester City before losing 2-1 on Saturday, they will see it as an opportunity missed.
Chelsea took the lead through N’Golo Kante after 21 minutes after keeping City on the back foot for most of the opening exchanges, with Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic controlling proceedings from midfield.
The visitors missed several chances to double their lead and were left to rue the inability to make their pressure count as a deflected Kevin de Bruyne strike got City back into the contest before Riyad Mahrez scored what proved to be the winner.
Photo: AFP
The fact that City finished the match with less possession (46.7 percent) — the lowest recorded by a side managed by Pep Guardiola in any of his 381 games as a top-flight coach — than Chelsea shows that the Blues more than matched last season’s Premier League champions.
It was not the first time that Chelsea have tasted defeat this season in a match they could, and possibly should, have taken something from.
Their 4-0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season would normally suggest an inept showing, but Chelsea had more shots than the hosts, hitting the bar and post in the first half, and again more possession.
In their other league defeat, a 2-1 home reverse against Liverpool in September, Chelsea had double the efforts on goal of their opponents, but again came up just short.
“We had relative control of the game at 1-0,” Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said after Saturday’s match at the Etihad.
“We were playing well, and throughout the game there were lots of positives, but we lost the game and it shows you that the finer details in these big games, in both boxes, can decide these ones,” Lampard said.
“These teams, Liverpool and City, have been getting results as they work hard and get those finer details right in these games,” he said.
Chelsea’s campaign in Lampard’s first season as a Premier League manager has to be judged a success so far, as they came into the game against Manchester City in third place after having been unable to sign any players in the close season because of a FIFA transfer ban.
Yet, as Lampard knows, to match the likes of City and leaders Liverpool, his Chelsea side have to learn from these kind of defeats and ensure they get results, not just impressive performances, against the best the league has to offer.
Elsewhere, Roberto Firmino struck in the 85th minute to give Liverpool a 2-1 win against Crystal Palace as the English Premier League leaders maintained their eight-point advantage.
Wilfried Zaha equalized in the 82nd minute for Palace after Sadio Mane’s opener in the 49th, but Liverpool got a late goal from Firmino.
Additional reporting by AP
In other games, it was:
‧ West Ham 2, Tottenham 3
‧ Arsenal 2, Southampton 2
‧ Bournemouth 1, Wanderers 2
‧ Brighton 0, Leicester City 2
‧ Everton 0, Norwich 2
‧ Watford 0, Burnley 3
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